Second Skin
by alexajaye
Summary: Ten years after the events of the movie, an unforeseen tragedy and a strange-looking girl in the forest cause Jake to revisit the most important decisions of his life, and he makes a surprising discovery. Rated M for safety and later chapters. Complete.
1. Another Dream

This is my first Avatar story, and hopefully not the last. These first few parts will be short, but it's all build-up. A word on the story. This is what I would like to call a character story. There is action, and a little bit of racism between the Na'vi and the Humans. But this story is mainly about Jake. Just give it a chance.

Read on!

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_**Another Dream**_

There are two things in life you never plan for: finding your true love and then losing her. But that's what happened to me. And it was only the beginning.

And I'm not one to dwell on the past, so we won't go into specifics. But we'd had ten amazing years. More amazing than anything an ex-Marine from a dying world could have hoped for. We'd found a new home, and we'd started new traditions of our own. Guess I should have know after Tommy that I was destined to lose everyone I loved. Nothing lasts forever. I'd been living a dream. The most incredible, amazing dream I'd ever had in my short, pitiful life. Sooner or later, though, you always have to wake up.

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Move on to chapter two, please!


	2. Rebuilding

This is technically the first chapter, but with the prologue, it counts as Two. This is basically an "up-to-speed" thing. I don't usually go into detail when I'm bringing people up to speed. The important words are at the bottom.

And as mentioned in the original script, Norm's avatar was killed and not repairable, but don't worry. I'm working on that.

Disclaimer thing. I do not own Avatar. I'm just a fan of the movie and the characters and the world and got this idea after seeing the movie more times than I could count. Plus I like to mess with things like that.

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_**Rebuilding**_

A week after the aliens were gone, we began to rebuild everything that had been destroyed. It wasn't easy, and a lot of people were resistant to the changes that had to be made. Above everything else, we taught change and tolerance. And tolerance is a big word for me.

Norm and the other scientists allowed to stay continued to call their home the lab where they'd been working before. But I never went back. I had no reason to, and Norm promised to visit even though his Avatar had been destroyed. I knew he loved being a scientist too much, and most of the People had accepted him. There were still a few hold-outs, but they weren't making too much noise. So it wasn't as bad as before.

I'll go ahead and admit that I missed my old body. Not that I ever wanted to go back — or could for that matter — but just little things. I became so accustomed to my life with Neytiri that going back had turned into an old memory — distant but still present. Especially when she gave me the news that she was pregnant. I'd never once thought of myself as a father, but the thought of it made me hope I did a good job.

I was also worried. I mean, what would they look like? It was true that, for the most part, I looked like everyone else around me. But there were subtle differences to my physiology that did make me different. Most importantly, and most noticeably was the fact that I had five fingers and five toes while everyone else only had four. I had eyebrows, and I was what you would call stockier than most everyone else. I wondered what my child would look like, and I was shocked to realize how much I wanted him to look like me.

I didn't know anything about my body on the inside until I was told by Norm that since I was male my genes would be dominant over Neytiri's, so it was very likely that my child would have five fingers and five toes, because of the Human DNA infused into my Avatar. They would have eyebrows and probably have better muscle tone than Neytiri. But my child would look, feel and sound like his mother, since my body did look like hers. For that I was grateful.

The night my son was born was one of the most joyous and interesting of my life. Of course I wasn't allowed in the birthing chamber with any of the females, but I was anxious the entire time. Norm was there with me. Since the end of the war, he'd adapted to life here and at the lab, but he was still geeky. In a good way, of course.

When my child had been laid in my arms for the first time, I think I felt for the first time what could only be called pure happiness. And I was determined not to take advantage of it. Shoulda known it wasn't gonna be that easy. And for what? A freak accident? A moment's distraction? She'd survived worse.

But this time was different.

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There. That wasn't too painful, right? Now on to the real story. Please tell me what you think. Don't hold anything back. I want all of it. Lay it on me!


	3. Bitter Reflection

'Nother disclaimer. I don't own Avatar. Awesome movie though.

Also: _Na'vi is in Italics._ Translations given at the bottom, unless you can figure it out yourself.

Read on!

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_**Bitter Reflection**_

The day after it happened, the bright light of morning was the only thing that made all of it real. Burying her hadn't made it real. Explaining it to my son hadn't made it real. Waking up without her made it real. And nothing anyone said to me made it okay. I had no one else to blame but myself. There was no enemy to strike. There was no revenge to be had, no message to be sent. I had been the culprit this time, and I ended up paying for it in more ways than anyone can possibly imagine. Least of all me.

I couldn't concentrate anymore. I couldn't think anymore. I was the leader of one of the strongest clans to survive a alien invasion, but I wasn't strong enough to face this. It felt insanely backward, like I was still dreaming, and the dream had become a nightmare. Mo'at was much more resilient than I'd given her credit, and she was able to advise within the hours that had followed. But I was a wreck. I didn't want to do anything. And no one could coax me out of my hole. Not even my own son.

"We have to hunt now, _Ma sempul_," he said to me, his English getting better every day. That was something Neytiri had insisted upon. With Humans still nearby, friendly or not, we'd wanted our child to know their ways. She called it _Fya ka_, which loosely meant The Way Across. A Bridge.

But I didn't feel like hunting. I didn't feel like standing or walking, breathing and crawling. I felt useless. After ten years, I'd learned to live with her so fiercely that living without her seemed impossible, cruel, unreal. Unfair. And I didn't care who else got hurt in the process.

"_Ma sempul_," he said softly, laying his hand over my shoulder. He was comforting me, and it made me feel even worse. His mother had just died, and he was trying to make me feel better. We'd both had her in our lives for pretty much the same amount of time. I had no right thinking my pain was greater than his.

He touched my face, and I looked up into his face — a face that so greatly reminded me of her. I wasn't like the others in the clan. I hadn't grown up here, and though I'd carried their burdens for the last ten years, I still felt . . . Human. I was expected to pick myself up and go on, but I also wanted to grieve.

Slowly, he lifted my hand to his, his five fingers mirroring mine as only his could, and gently, our fingers intertwined. I realized it was now my responsibility to care for him and teach him and protect him until he could protect himself. He was only nine, but in Na'vi physiology, he was practically a teenager now. And he was almost two-thirds my size.

I felt tears flow freely from my eyes for the first time in over ten years, and with a deep breath, I allowed him to pull me to my feet. We embraced, and then we stepped out into the light of dawn together. We were always going to be a team now, even when there were times when I had to be away from him. It was just going to be me and him, and that meant I couldn't wallow any more. I had to be strong, for my son.

Mo'at, an imposing figure despite being almost a foot shorter than me, was waiting for me and my son, Thomas, as we both exited the base of what had become our new home ten years earlier. Time flows different here. Three months can feel like three years. Trust me. I know from experience. But despite the tragedy of losing her daughter, she was happy to see me.

"Jakesully," she said, her deep voice hauntingly calming. "_Oel ngati kameie_."

I bowed my head respectfully. After ten years, she, like Neytiri, had grown accustomed to my "Human" mannerisms. But after yesterday, I was mostly grateful she wasn't shooting fire at me with her eyes — eyes that were, again, much like Neytiri's.

"Do not mourn, Jakesully," she whispered to me, laying her hands over my shoulders gently. "She is with Eywa now. She is at peace."

Though I still didn't want to accept it, I knew it was true. And there was no reason to dwell on it. With Mo'at speaking English to me now, it meant she was in a better mood than she had been the night before. She knew I tended to slip into a lot of old habits when I was distressed, and even after ten years, the Na'vi language was still a little difficult to stick with when I was distracted.

"You are going hunting with your son?" she asked, turning her wise eyes to Thomas as he stood beside me.

"As he insists we must," I began, turning my eyes to him as well, "then we will."

Thomas bowed his head, but I could see a small smile ease across his face.

Mo'at also bowed her head, grinning at him. "You will take hunters with you?" she asked me.

"Of course," I agreed.

"Then I will leave you."

She released us to the forest, where four others were already pulling together a morning hunting party. Even though I was _Olo'eyktan_, I could still hunt, and I did have a, uh, student to teach. The hunting party was able to accommodate us quite nicely with a _Pa'li_ of our own, and with little else, the six of us set off for a morning of hunting for that night's meal.

With Thomas being so young, I'd left the flying to every other day scouting with older clan members. So for his sake, I rode with him and taught him what I knew, which wasn't as much as most everyone else in the clan. But it was enough for him. I wasn't much of a horse-man myself, but it was easier to hunt on the ground this way.

The forest was still this morning, and for some reason, that put me on edge. I instinctively heard, saw and felt more intensely when I couldn't even hear the birds and bugs in the trees around me. With our rides remaining behind so we could forge ahead toward our prey, I felt my body slide into auto. No thinking. Only feeling. Neytiri had taught me that. I would've never guessed it would have saved my life that day. But it did.

I wasn't at my top game. I'll admit that. I was still distracted, and every little movement set me off. I made sure Thomas stayed within my senses, but far enough away so that I wouldn't unintentionally hurt him. The other hunters saw my behavior, but they said nothing. That's probably why they kept their distance as well. I was a wounded man, and I could see they didn't want me to get pissed off at the slightest noise made by the smallest creature.

But it was this distraction . . . this off-feeling that allowed me to see something I wouldn't have seen otherwise. In the forest, many things glow and shimmer in the light, in ways no human eye could possibly see. Norm told me from experience that his Avatar body had been capable of hundreds more things than his Human body. So it's possible I saw this because of my unique vantage point. But it was my Human memories that allowed me to see what I saw, because I was pretty sure there wasn't anything shiny in the forest. Not in the daytime.

And it wasn't the usual shine of a blade or a machine gun. This shine could only come from one thing. Silver. And it caught my eye immediately. I called to the others, motioning for them to spread out away from the east where I'd seen the shine, and I beckoned Thomas to my side.

"Stay close," I told him.

I wasn't sure what I'd seen, but it felt strangely familiar. And I wanted my son to be safe while I investigated. The only way I could do that was to have him within arm's length. As soon as I felt him at my back, I advanced, holding my bow with both hands and crawling along the forest floor.

The shine caught my eyes again, moving northeast, and I stayed on it, feeling a sudden flash of memories from less than a day earlier when Neytiri and I had been scouting away from Home. Suddenly, I realized why I'd become distracted. I'd seen this shine before. It had drawn my attention from my mate and allowed my entire world to be ripped apart.

The rage I felt inside was enough to cause a growl to explode from my chest, and I ran toward the shine. I didn't care about my son anymore. I didn't care about the hunt anymore. I only wanted revenge. Whatever this shine belonged to, it deserved to die for the imbalance it had caused in my life. And it was going to pay.

The forest drifted away as I tunneled in on my prey, and it flashed again, this time closer than it had been before.

"_Ma sempul_!"

My son's voice drifted away, and I forgot I wasn't alone. I forgot about everything but this. Everything else could wait.

I raced forward as fast as I could, arriving in a small clearing and becoming confused. I'd seen it come this way, and there was no way it could have gotten away. I turned three-hundred-sixty degrees, seeing my son at the edge of the clearing as he watched me with wide eyes. I realized that I'd scared him, and I felt embarrassment only a Human who'd just made a fool of himself could. But I wasn't Human, and that made it even worse. I moved toward him slowly, my hands out to show him I wasn't angry anymore, but I was less than three meters from him when I heard sticks and foliage break under light pressure.

I stopped immediately, bringing my fingers to my lips so my son would know to be quiet. From what I could tell, the sounds had come from the north. I moved slowly, inhaling deep and feeling my body slip back into hunting mode. I had to be quiet and still if I was going to catch this thing. Whether it was an animal or something else, I was going to find it. After that, I wasn't sure anymore.

Movement caused me to change course slightly, and Thomas joined me slowly until we were a pair again. I pulled my knife, inching forward toward the movement, and I was sure it was close. I glanced at Thomas, but before I could speak, the brush in front of me exploded, and a blur of color shot out toward me, separating me from my son as I attempted to grab what had grabbed me. Ground and sky tumbled around me as green and blue and brown engulfed me, and as I came to rest with my back to the forest floor, I was immediately faced with the strangest looking creature.

I overpowered it, grabbing limbs and pulling it away as it shrieked loud. My eyes adjusted to the fall, and I realized I was holding arms and pinning down legs that belonged to the body of a girl. But she wasn't like any girl I'd ever seen before — Human or Na'vi.

She screamed, clawing at my face and pushing me away. But I was stronger than she was, and I caught her again, getting a closer look at her. She was probably two or two and half meters long from head to toe, easy. But what shocked me the most was her skin. She looked so strange.

"_Ma sempul_!"

Thomas appeared out of the brush with the others, but I held them off, ordering them to remain where they were. That's when I noticed the silver chain around her neck. She dug her fingernails into my wrists, and despite the pain, I held on, hissing in her face and thrashing her from left to right.

She screamed again, her legs kicking at me and drawing my attention to her body. She was muscular, that was for sure. Then I saw her feet, noticing her five toes and then looking at her hands to see five fingers. This wasn't possible. She was no Avatar. She didn't look like the Na'vi. Her skin was the strangest thing. My Human memories kicked in at the worst time, and I was immediately thinking of what she looked like. The way her skin was, it made me think of a white tiger — black stripes and all. She wasn't completely blue like I was, but she wasn't completely pink the way Humans were. And her eyes weren't topaz or sapphire, but glimmering emeralds.

And then she yelled. "Away! Get away!"

I was so shocked by her voice that I reflexively dropped her, and she fell to her hands and feet. She glared up at me, hissing back as she remained crouched to the ground. I couldn't speak, but the others with me rushed forward, immediately taking her captive. She screamed again, fighting them and punching one of them in the face before she shot off in the opposite direction.

"_Faketuan_!" one of them yelled, retrieving his bow and pulling it taut. He was about to release it on her when I stopped him.

"No! Don't!"

I could see they were surprised by my reaction, but in several short minutes, my senses had changed directions. I had to find out more about this creature. What was she? Why was she here? How was it possible for her to be here? There were parts of her that looked Human, and there were parts of her that looked Na'vi. As far as I knew and remembered, only Avatars had been grown by the program for racial interaction.

"Thomas," I said to my son, and he was at my side instantly. "You will accompany me?"

He looked at the others, hesitating before he stood up straight. "Yes."

I turned my attention to the other hunters. "_Makto kelku_," I told them, gesturing back to the herd as it waited.

They hesitated, as Thomas had, but after a minute, they turned and left without arguing. I was unsure what I was feeling or thinking, but I could handle this myself. In fact, I had to do this myself. No one else was capable of it.

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**Translations:**

**_Ma sempul - Father_**

**_Fya ka - The way across _(obviously, in case you missed it)**

**_Oel ngati kameie - I See you_**

**_Olo'eyktan - Clan Leader_**

**_Pa'li - Direhorse_**

**_Faketuan - Alien (non-Na'vi) _Not sure about this one because of words used in movie, but it is in the dictionary, so it stays**

**_Makto kelku - Ride home_**

As always, tell me what you think. Tell me it sucks. Tell me it's really good. Tell me what's wrong with it. And don't gripe about the Na'vi words. When any of the Na'vi speak in their native tongue, they're _really_ going to speak it. Those who will speak English will be written in English.

More to come!


	4. Savior

Disclaimer Thing. I do not own Avatar. I do however own Ava. She is supposed to be one of a kind. I guess only time will tell.

Read on!

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_**Savior**_

The first thing I did was put my bow and knife away. I didn't want to startle this . . . this girl, whoever or whatever she was. I kept thinking back to those few months I'd been at the base with Norm and Grace, thinking about what kinds of experiments they might have had going on while I'd been there. But I was drawing a complete blank. Of course, it didn't help that after a little while of reporting to Quaritch, Grace had moved us up into the mountains at camp. Any information I could have had access to had been hundreds of miles away. Not that I would have wanted to look at any of it. I wasn't what one would call scientific at that point in my "mission."

Now that I was crawling through the brush closer to the girl I'd seen, I wish I'd looked at it. Surely, there would have been something about this in there – a girl who looked like she was Human and Na'vi. I didn't think it was possible.

"Hello?" I called in English, since it seemed she knew some. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I swear. My name's Jake. Hello?"

Twigs and brush crushed under pressure a few meters away, and I glanced at Thomas, gesturing for him to remain silent. He nodded, and we pressed on. I kept my eyes on everything, hoping she hadn't gotten too far ahead of us. The last thing I needed was hunters from another clan finding her. She looked different and probably didn't speak the language. That would prove to be a death sentence for someone like her, like it could have been for me. Just that thought alone urged me forward. Whether this girl was aware of it or not, she was very rare, and if I could keep her from getting killed, that's what I was gonna do.

"It's okay," I yelled, still using English. "No one's gonna hurt you. You don't have to be afraid of me."

The bushes moved quickly, and I knew she was running again. I told Thomas silently to remain there, and he crouched to the floor while I moved forward.

I caught a glimmer of the chain around her neck, now realizing that it was a necklace and that she had to have come from somewhere. I followed her for another few meters, figuring she was staying the same amount of space ahead of me and that I'd lose her if I didn't do something. But I didn't want to scare her off. So I had to keep going slow until I was closer.

"Do you have a name?" I called after her, listening carefully for her footsteps. I couldn't recall instantly whether she'd had any of the normal Na'vi attributes, but whatever I'd been doing had caused her to react. And I couldn't do that again, even though I had no idea what I'd done to set her off.

"Listen," I said. "I can help you. There are others out there who will hurt you, even kill you. And I can keep them from doing that. My name is Jake," I repeated. "Do you have a name?"

She stopped moving. I could tell based on the stillness ahead of me. Whether that was a good thing or not, I didn't know yet, but I kept going, holding my hands out so she could see them open and empty and so I could grab her if she tried to run again.

"It's okay," I told her, seeing her through the brush. "Take it easy. I won't hurt you."

With one last branch to move aside, she appeared in front of me as she still crouched low to the ground. She was obviously in a defensive mode, since I'd proven undeterred in my pursuit, but she'd stopped trying to get away. I hoped that was good thing. That's when I noticed her long, striped tail whipping behind her as she rocked slightly, and her slightly pointed ears reared back the way mine did when I was faced with an enemy.

I kept my hands up, hoping it would calm her down. "I'm not gonna hurt you," I said again. "It's okay."

Her hair wasn't completely black, but somewhere between light-dark brown and to her waist, and I could see now that she was pink down the middle of her body while dark blue stripes hugged her curves from her bare feet to the slopes of her shoulders and neck and the mounds of her cheeks and forehead. And she wasn't completely naked as she wore what I could only think of as a small cloth around her waist.

"It's okay," I said softly.

I crouched down in front of her, about to reach for her when she suddenly lunged forward and grabbed me by the neck. I fell back into the bushes, tumbling again and attempting to stop her. I fought gravity, grabbing her by the arms and digging my heels into the dirt to stop our roll until she was on the ground beneath me. She hissed at me, fighting me like she'd done before, and I realized why she was fighting me. I probably sounded safe, but I looked Na'vi. Whatever had happened to her, she obviously hadn't had a good experience with one of the other Clans. But I wasn't your typical clan leader. I had to make her see that.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," I shouted. "Listen to my voice. I look like them. I know. But listen to me. I'm different. I promise."

Even though I'd been living with the Omaticaya for ten years, I still sounded like my old self – confident, slightly arrogant but completely trustworthy. I hoped she could hear and feel that. I didn't want to accidently hurt her trying to keep her still.

While keeping both her arms in one of my hands, I held up my free hand so she could see that I had five fingers like she did. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay."

This seemed to calm her down for the moment, and I released her slowly, watching her back away almost a meter. I kept my hands in front of me, inching forward until I was less than half a meter from her. She stared at me, her eyes wide with fear, but she didn't move away. I hoped that was a good sign.

I noticed blood on her arm then, not knowing whether it had happened while we'd been struggling or if it had been there before she'd come across me. But I figured the least I could do was fix her up.

"You're hurt," I said, laying my hand over her shoulder. She jumped, inhaling and exhaling quickly. "It's okay. Take it easy. I can help you. Please."

For a moment, she stopped moving, and I took her stillness to mean she was at least going to let me put a bandage on her. I got a little closer to her, gently sitting her on the ground and touching her other shoulder as a long, light-dark brown braid came into my view. I realized something new about her body. She was more like me than I thought.

"Thomas," I called, startling her easily but able to calm her again. "It's okay. He's not gonna hurt you. I promise."

Within moments, my son burst through the brush, ready to defend me, but I stopped him.

"It's okay," I told him. Softly, I instructed him to find dressings for her wound to keep from alarming her, and even though I could see his reluctance, he did what I told him.

I kept my eyes on hers as long as I could without having to keep watch on the area. Even though I was pretty sure where we were, I didn't want to risk having another clan find us here. And I had to get her back to Mo'at before too much time passed.

"My name's Jake," I said a third time, and she looked at me. "Do you have a name?"

Her ears perked up then, and I figured she probably couldn't understand me either. I laid my hand over my chest.

"Jake," I said again. "I'm Jake. Who are you?" I asked, gently touching her chest.

She looked at my fingers, moving her hand to mine and then looking at me again. "I'm Jake," I said gesturing to myself again. "Who are you?"

Thomas came back with dressings, and she jumped again, releasing my hand and moving her feet under her body. I laid my hands over her shoulders, soothing her softly.

"It's okay. We're gonna help you," I promised. "Do you have a name?" I asked her.

She looked at Thomas, seeing his five fingers on each hand and hopefully understanding that he was like me, and she relaxed slightly, allowing me and my son to dress her wound. Once all the blood was cleaned away, I noticed the distinct mark of claws jagged along her skin. I silently wondered what had attacked her and how long it had been since then. The wound looked relatively fresh, and there were only a few things it could be. I also absently wondered how she'd gotten away.

Together, it took me and Thomas only a few minutes to bandage her arm. She winced softly as I applied the paste that would clean her wound out and seal it, and she lifted her hand to my arm as I wrapped a leaf dressing around her arm to protect it while it healed. I began thinking of the first time I'd met Neytiri, and I remembered why I'd started chasing this girl.

"Avamelia," she said suddenly, her voice soft as she gazed at me curiously.

It took me a few seconds to realize she was saying her name, and I leaned closer to her.

"Can you understand me?" I asked softly.

Before she could answer me, my own ears picked up on a deep, heavy growl coming from less than six meters away. I knew that growl. I'd heard it before. And I knew where it had come from and why. She'd been bleeding, the way I'd been after encountering a whole pack of them, and they'd all followed her here.

"Shit," I hissed.

I used my bearings to locate the animals, feeling and smelling them to the south and softly calling to my son.

"Thomas, take your bow and move north slowly," I ordered. "If we move too fast, they'll attack."

He obeyed without speaking, and I looked at her again to see her reacting silently to the animals as well with her eyes and ears wide open. "We'll have to talk later," I said softly, easing forward. "But right now, we need to move. I need you to trust me. Those animals out there are probably here for you, because you smell different. Like I did. I can get you away from here, but you have to trust me. Please?"

I extended my hands to her again, meaning to stand her up and back her into the brush away from the animals. Either my persuasion skills had improved, or she was completely terrified because she moved forward and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I was overwhelmed, remaining still as my body adjusted to her weight, but after half a minute, I stood up with her in my arms. I had to get her away from here, and after that, I'd see about getting some answers.

It was easy enough to move her onto my back, and as soon as she was secure, I turned south to watch the brush in front of me. I could hear Thomas behind making his way north, and she weighed less than he did, so it felt like I was carrying a light backpack. Subconsciously, I paid attention to her arms and legs as they held onto me tightly, and I could honestly only think of the fact that it had been more than a few days since Neytiri and I had really been this close.

The birds closest to us called loudly, flying from their perches, and I immediately knew that was bad. The first time these things had attacked me, I'd been on my own in the forest after getting separated from Grace and Norm. It had been a stupid move on my part, but if I hadn't done it, I wouldn't have met Neytiri. So I couldn't regret it. The only problem now was that I was towing two kids who were smaller and very likely weaker than me. I couldn't be as careless now as I'd been then.

The _Nantang_, or viperwolf as I'd called it once before, advanced on us more quickly than I'd expected, and when the first one emerged from the brush with its teeth bared, I grasped onto my passenger, keeping my knees bent in case I had to run. I knew it wasn't going to be easy to get rid of him, but when three more joined him, I realized how completely outnumbered I was. Even with Thomas on point, I knew one of us was going to get hurt. And that was unacceptable.

I kept going backward for as long as I could without tripping on any limbs or stumps covering the ground, and I caught up to Thomas as he waited by the edge of the river that was between us and the path home.

"_Ma sempul_," he said softly, and I took his arm in mine as I set her on her own feet.

The river was faster-flowing up stream and would probably keep us safe halfway across, until the wolves following us figured out how to get across. I couldn't remember if they could swim or not, but I didn't want to risk it.

I didn't have time to make a better decision, watching the first wolf emerge less than three meters from where we'd stopped. Hastily, I pushed Thomas into the water, allowing him to get his footing before I followed with my arm secure around her waist. I wasn't sure what to call her just yet, but I was gonna keep her safe until I figured that out.

Just as I'd feared, halfway into the river, the wolves began their own descent, and I yelled to Thomas.

"Hurry up," I ordered. "Get hunters from Home. We can't let them near there."

He swam the way I'd shown him, getting to the other side first and immediately running toward the path to the village. With her in my arm, it took me a little longer to get across, the wolves closing in on us quickly. Less than two meters from the edge, one of them snapped at her leg under the water, and I drew my knife, reaching for it and driving my blade deep into his chest. He yelped, falling limp and I threw him downstream as another came for my neck.

An arrow came out of nowhere, hitting the wolf square in his chest, and I looked back to see her holding my bow in her hands. The other two wolves retreated, and I was left standing there in the water completely confused. I hadn't even realized she'd gotten out of the water, much less knew how to shoot an arrow from less than three meters away. She looked at me solemnly, lowering my bow as I climbed out of the river and handing it to me without looking at me.

Hunting Calls sliced through the air as another party made their way toward us, and I strapped on my bow, pulling her behind me as six men on _Pa'li_ arrived at our location with Thomas in tow. I nodded to the front man, remembering his name.

"_Ma _Tu'San," I acknowledged with a nod. _"Oel ngati kameie."_

His expression of disdain did not bode well as he dismounted his _Pa'li_, pulling out his queue and making his way toward where I was keeping Ava. Her name resounded in my head, and I realized it fit.

"_Faketuan_," he spat, glaring over my shoulder at Ava. His brow furrowed angrily even as I tried to keep him calm.

"_Rutxe, tsmukan. Rä'ä si_. Please," I said in English, hoping he would oblige me.

He glared, glancing behind him and then replacing his own knife.

"I must get her back to Mo'at, please."

He didn't argue, backing away from me, I hoped, to allow me to pull Ava to a horse with Thomas. The others with him all shared his expression. I knew what a sore subject it was even after ten years. I was _Olo'eyktan_, but to some, I would always be what I'd been before. There were some ways of thinking even I wouldn't be able to change, but I knew that if I could get Mo'at to see how scared Ava was and that she probably didn't know what she was, I could get her the same chance I got. A chance to learn. To be one of the People.

I lifted her onto the horse before mounting myself, connecting my own queue with the horse's and then pulling Thomas onto the horse behind me. Tu'san took point, urging the others on, and I followed, keeping her in front of me and making sure Thomas was holding on before I sped up with the other hunters. I wasn't sure what would happen when Mo'at saw Ava. I hoped she would at least allow me to find answers for myself before she decided what to do. There was no doubt in my mind what Ava was, but I had to know how. I had to know why, and if Norm could help me, I was going to take Ava to him the first chance I got — whether the other members of the clan liked it or not.

Our new Hometree, a massive tree almost the same size as the first Hometree had been became visible less than a few minutes after leaving the river, and I instantly remembered the day we'd found it. It hadn't been easy, convincing Mo'at and quite a few others that we needed a place to stay away from the Tree of Souls. She'd argued we were safe there from the Humans and most other things in the forest, but Neytiri had actually agreed with me. We needed a new home. Especially if she and I were going to be raising a child together.

I thought somberly about where we'd buried her, thinking I needed to see her and make sure she was okay with this newest development. But I think I'd been with her enough to know what she would want. Ava's origins needed to be known, for the Omaticaya and for Ava.

Even though I still wasn't sure if Ava could understand me, I tried to reassure her as we arrived at the base of our Home, whispering to her as I lowered from the horse. "Everything's gonna to be okay," I told her. "Mo'at will know what to do. No one's gonna hurt you."

I grasped onto her hand as I made my way toward the center of the village where Mo'at was currently waiting with Tu'San. When she saw me, I figured she would be suspicious like everyone else as they all watched me guide Ava toward her. She'd been suspicious of me, and I'd looked a lot more like her than Ava did. But the look in her eyes now told me she was just as curious as I was. I hoped it meant she would allow me to take Ava where I needed to find out how her existence was even possible.

"Jakesully," she said.

I bowed my head. "_Oel ngati kameie._"

"Where did you find this creature?" she asked in English, gazing at Ava speculatively.

I sighed softly, glancing at Ava. "I was on the hunt with my son when I found her in the forest," I explained. "I thought I'd seen something that drove me from the others, and I was attacked. I believe she was startled by our presence, and I couldn't risk another clan finding her. We were chased by _nantang_ to the river, and she saved my life by killing one of them before it attacked me."

Mo'at moved closer to me as I stood in front of Ava. I hadn't realized how protective my stand was until Mo'at pushed me away gently, and I stepped aside, allowing the woman who'd also looked at me when I'd first arrived look at Ava more closely.

In the midday light, I noticed the spots on Ava's face that greatly resembled the spots on my face and Thomas' face, only they weren't luminescent as ours were. Hers looked more like freckles. Where her stripes intersected with her pink skin, there were spots that were half brown and half glowing. I silently hoped Norm could give me a little insight into all of this. He was a lot smarter than me where things like this were concerned, and he'd take one look at Ava and want to figure it out with me.

Mo'at surveyed Ava's body the way I'd had to when I'd first seen her, touching her pink skin and then her stripes. She lifted Ava's queue, criticizing it before she also lifted Ava's tail. Ava was strangely calm during her inspection. It looked like she knew what Mo'at was doing, and she looked at me every few seconds to make sure she was right. I only nodded so she would stay calm.

"She confuses me," Mo'at said finally, standing in front of Ava and taking her by the shoulders to look into her eyes. "I have never seen anything quite like this before."

"I agree," I said softly. "With your permission, I will take her to Norm. He can find out how this happened."

Mo'at turned her gaze to mine, appraising me instantly. "You feel attached to this creature," she said obviously.

The few members of the clan who understood Mo'at all gasped at this revelation, but I couldn't deny it. I hadn't even realized how much it was true in such a short amount of time. But Ava was more like me than she was anyone else in the Clan, and I guess that did connect us in a way none of the others could really understand. I didn't want her to get hurt simply because she didn't know the rules. So I would make her my responsibility. It was the only thing I knew to do.

"You will do as you wish, Jakesully," Mo'at said to me. "You will learn how this creature was made, and you will bring the information to me. We will reevaluate this situation at that time."

I bowed my head again. "_Irayo._"

"Tomorrow," she added. "You have done much today. Take her to rest now."

I returned to Ava's side, glancing at Thomas and beckoning him to my side as I pulled Ava up into the spiral that would lead us to where Thomas and I had emerged that morning. The members of the Clan who knew what was going on all murmured disapprovingly. Even though I was their clan leader, I knew a lot of them wouldn't understand this. And I was surprised to realize exactly how much I wasn't really worried what they did or didn't understand about this. All I wanted were answers. I would get them no matter what anyone said.

As clan leader, I'd been afforded a few things most of the other members didn't necessarily need, and since Neytiri and I had Thomas, we'd also had the same accommodations as any other family within the clan. So we had an alcove which gave us privacy, but we also had a resting mat which looked like a Human trampoline only twice as big. When I showed these things to Ava, the look of recognition on her face was undeniable, and I began wondering how long she'd been in the forest alone. I allowed Thomas onto the mat first, which was suspended by a few dozen ropes on all sides and actually quite sturdy, and I helped Ava to the middle, motioning for her to lay down.

She fell asleep almost instantly, and I stayed close to her even with Thomas watching me. I wasn't sure why, but I felt like Neytiri would want me to keep Ava safe, and whether Thomas understood that or not, I had to go with what my gut told me. I noticed the look of resentment on his face, and I tried to reassure him.

"Everything will be okay once I get her to Norm," I told him softly. I knew we were probably the only ones resting now, but I still wanted our conversation to be a private as possible. "I know you don't understand. But I have to help her. Maybe you'll understand when we find out how this happened."

Thomas folded his arms over his chest stubbornly, and I grudgingly allowed him to go back down to the village for food. I knew he was probably thinking about his mother now, and I didn't want to encourage his jealousy, but I couldn't focus on more than one thing right now. And I had to focus on Ava.

When he returned with food for the three of us, he sat off to one side of the mat, and I allowed him his distance. Even though he knew my origins because Neytiri and I had made sure he knew where I'd come from, I also knew how heavily influenced he was by the other clan members. He'd heard all the stories about how the aliens had attacked Hometree and tried to destroy _Vitraya Ramunong_. And he was more distrusting of Norm and most of the other scientists who'd stayed after the rest had left. But I always made sure he understood how Norm would never hurt any of us. So I could always count on him to at least try to tolerate Norm when he visited in his Avatar.

I hoped he could at least attempt to do the same with Ava.

* * *

**Definitions:**

**_Omaticaya - Blue Flute Clan _(It's on the Wiki - check it out)**

**_Nantang - Viperworlf_**

**_Ruxte, tsmukan. - Please, Brother._**

**_Ra'a si - Do not do _(Don't do that.)**

**_Irayo - Thank you_**

**_Vitraya Ramunong - Tree of Souls  
_**

And I know it might seem odd for a member of Jake's clan to behave toward him this way, but just go with it for right now. Please?

Tell me what you think. Thanks to those who have added this story to their faves and alerts. Give me some reviews while you're at it. Reviews make me happy.


	5. Normal

Disclaimer time. I do not own Avatar. But I do own Ava. And other elements of her character. I also own Eyreal and Tu'San. Get to know them.

* * *

_**Normal**_

In the amount of time Ava slept, I was able to find her some of Neytiri's things, even though Thomas was completely upset by it. Ava wasn't completely naked, and though I'd never really given it much thought with Neytiri, Ava _was_ different. And I'd noticed a lot of the others staring at her. If I was going to keep her safe, I had to at least attempt to help her blend in, even if it was already impossible.

She seemed to know what to do with the loincloth, but I helped her with it as comfortably as I could. Only a few of Neytiri's chest pieces had actually covered her whole chest, and I helped Ava tie one of them around her torso. Thomas had since returned to the base of Hometree, but I'd made sure he knew to come back when it was time. Since it was just me and Ava, I decided it was time for us to talk.

"Can you understand me?" I asked her softly.

She lifted her fingers to my lips, but she didn't say anything.

I moved her hand away, speaking again. "Do you know where you are?"

She looked around at where we were, and for a few seconds, I thought it was impossible to get anything out of her. I didn't even know how old she was.

Ava lowered her hand to my chest, lifting her eyes to mine. "Jake," she said.

Unconsciously, I smiled. "That's right," I nodded, laying my hand over hers. "I'm Jake. And you're Avamelia," I said.

She lowered her eyes to where I was holding her hand. She inhaled deeply, looking at me again. "I . . . understand," she whispered.

The heart inside my chest I'd been living with the last ten years sped up instantly, and I couldn't deny the smile on my face.

"_Po plltxe_.," I heard behind me and turned to see one of the female clan members there with more dressings in her arms. The look of astonishment and wonder on her face was obvious as she slowly made her way out onto the mat.

She looked at me, bowing her head. "_Oel ngati kameie._"

Ava withdrew immediately, and I stood up to face our visitor. "Eyreal," I said to her, drawing her attention away from Ava.

"_Ma tshahik_ ask me bring this to you," she said softly, her English disjointed since she probably hadn't spoken much of it in a little while.

I took the dressings, glancing at Ava and then returning my eyes to Eyreal. I bowed my head. "_Irayo_," I replied.

Expecting her to turn and leave now that her task had been completed, I was confused when she remained where she was, looking passed me at Ava.

"She is good?" Eyreal asked me.

It took me a few seconds to realize she was asking if Ava was okay, and for a fleeting moment, I thought she was there merely to satisfy her curiosity. But the look in her eyes appeared to be one of yearning. It seemed she truly wished to know Ava was okay. I took that as a good sign, allowing her further onto the mat where Ava was sitting curled up away from us. I hadn't expected any other members of the clan to show this much interest in Ava since she looked so different. Despite most of them being tolerant of the other Avatars, they still looked at others who didn't look like them as outsiders. They had accepted me, but honestly, they'd really had no choice.

I moved to Ava's side, soothing her as she continued to coil away from Eyreal. "It's okay," I told her. "She won't hurt you." I looked at Eyreal. "At least, I don't think she'll hurt you."

It took several seconds for Ava to relax, and Eyreal knelt in front of her slowly, remaining still as I eased Ava closer to her.

"She look so young," Eyreal said softly, slowly extending her hand to touch Ava's cheek. "She so small."

"Yes," I said, keeping Ava close even as she lifted her hand to touch Eyreal's face. "She's very delicate."

Eyreal looked at me, her topaz eyes confused by the word I'd used. I thought quickly, speaking again.

"_Po ke txur_," I told her, and she nodded.

For another minute, it was quiet as Ava continued to touch Eyreal's face, and Eyreal touched Ava's. But then a booming voice from the other side of the trees broke us all from the silence.

"_Kä neto_," I heardand looked to see Tu'San glaring at us from his perch.

Eyreal retreated, glancing at me and then quietly rising from where she'd sat down. She bowed her head at me, a small smile crossing her face as she glanced at Ava and then left without a word. Before she could leave, I called out to her.

"Eyreal," I said, and she stopped to look back at me. I also bowed my head. "Thank you."

Even though she said nothing, I knew she understood, and I watched her leave a moment before I returned my eyes to where Tu'San had been. He was still there, watching me with Ava. At that very moment, he reminded me of Tsu'Tey, even though I had not seen my brother in ten years. The fierce superiority was blazing in his eyes, and the potent disgust flashed across his bared teeth, but I took this in with as little weight as I could. I couldn't afford to despise all the Humans who'd robbed the entire clan of their home ten years earlier. I was going to need their help if I was going to find out about Ava.

Tu'San didn't hang around much longer than to see Eyreal leave me and Ava alone. Though Eyreal was not mated with anyone, Tu'San was generally territorial when it came to most of the female members of the clan. I still couldn't understand why, even though after I'd showed up, I figured it was only normal.

Ava got my attention then, touching my face to make me look at her, and I forgot about Tu'San. Whether he liked it or not, she was here now, and I wasn't going to let anyone hurt her now. This wasn't about some alien mining company come to the world to destroy our home again. The Company hadn't been back in ten years, but with scientists still on the base, I didn't know how long that was going to last. But this wasn't about the clan. This was personal now. And that was all I cared about at the moment.

"You . . . in . . . trouble?" she asked me slowly, the look in her eyes making it appear like she had to find the words in her head before she spoke them to me.

"No," I said, shaking my head and moving her hand away. "And neither are you, so don't worry about anyone hurting you. I won't allow that. I'm their leader, and they'll listen to me. Ava, where did you come from?"

She thought harder on that one, seeming to remember something sad as tears welled in her eyes. "Far . . . away," she said softly, lifting her fingers to the chain still around her neck.

I tried to soothe her, even though it looked like she was having trouble remembering exactly where she did come from. I again wondered how long she'd been in the forest to fend for herself. Surely it had only been a few years. Anymore than that, she would have been too small to take care of herself. Then again, she didn't look malnourished or scarred the way someone unable to take care of themselves would have after only a few years. In fact, she looked healthy.

"Did someone give this to you?" I asked, fingering the chain gently.

"Yes," she said sadly.

"Do you remember who gave it to you?"

She bowed her head, allowing the tears in her eyes to fall, but she shook her head. It was obvious she didn't want me to know something, but if I was going to keep her safe, I had to know everything.

"You can trust me, Ava," I said softly. "Whatever you tell me, it's just me. I won't tell anyone else. I swear. But I have to know. Please."

It took several more seconds for her to build up to it, but she finally looked at me. "My . . . mother . . . gave it to me. Before . . . she . . . died."

Instantly, I knew something about her that made me feel different than I'd ever felt for anyone — even Neytiri. And I didn't even realize I was so close to her until I had her in my arms comforting her. For whatever reason, I hadn't even thought for a minute that she could've had parents. I'd only thought of two donors, like the way the company had made the Avatars. But clearly, there was something else going on here. There was something a lot more complicated and dangerous happening, and I had to know what was going to happen next.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her softly. "It's gonna be okay. I promise."

It wasn't too difficult to get her to eat. I laid the food in front of her, and she almost immediately began shoveling it into her mouth. I didn't want us to be up here for the rest of the day, but when Mo'at had told me to rest, she must have known something I didn't. As soon as Ava finished her food, she laid back down, and I laid down with her, falling asleep almost immediately.

I had the strangest dream. I was back at the lab, weightless inside a tube filled with oxygenated salt water and an umbilical attached to my stomach. There was no noise, no sensation, and it felt vaguely familiar. I remembered the first time I'd seen my Avatar as it floated in a container filled with water twitching and curling its toes and fingers. I could still remember thinking about Tommy and how I wasn't even supposed to be there.

"_Looks like him,"_ I'd said staring at it almost wondrously.

"_No, it looks like you. This is your Avatar now, Jake,"_ Norm countered.

So many years had passed since then, and so much had happened. I wasn't just driving the body I was in now from a distance. It was my body now. And there was no going back. That didn't explain why I was dreaming about being in a tube filled with water and an umbilical coming from my stomach. Before I'd started using this body, it had been completely inert without me.

I opened my eyes, but I wasn't in the Tree anymore. I was still inside the tube, and everything beyond the glass was distorted, almost to where I couldn't make any of it out. It looked like the inside of the lab, but that didn't make any sense. Everything had a blue tint to it, and I couldn't figure out why. But when the massive shape of a nine and a half foot tall blue man filled my view, I didn't have to guess what I was looking at, and the clan markings gave him away.

"_Is he okay?"_ His voice was so far away. He could've been talking from across the room, but he was kneeling less than three feet from my head.

"_He's perfect."_ That sounded like Norm's voice, but I couldn't see him.

"_How much longer is he gonna have to be in here?"_

Slowly, Norm came into my view, looking the he'd always looked, but it looked like he was smiling.

"_A few more days."_

"_How's Ava doing?"_

"_She's doin' fine, Jake."_

"_Can I see her too?"_

"_Come with me."_ Norm moved away, and then the massive blue man did too.

I realized then that I was seeing something impossible. How could that be Jake? I'm Jake.

* * *

"_Ma sempul_."

The dim light of dusk filled my eyes as I opened them to see Thomas and Ava above me with worried looks on their faces.

"Thomas?"

"We could not get you to wake," he said, touching my face and pulling me to sit up. "I yelled loud several times."

I looked around to see the sky nearly pink, and I knew it was late. "How long have I been asleep?" I asked softly.

"Nearly 12 hours," I heard and turned to see Norm as he stood at the edge of the mat. I noticed several instruments in his hands, and he moved closer to where I was sitting with Thomas and Ava.

"What happened?" I asked.

"There was some strange activity showing up at the lab," he said, kneeling in front of me and holding one of his scanners over my head. "You were asleep when I got here, but Thomas said he couldn't get you to wake up. You, uh, kinda looked like I did when I wasn't in my Avatar, and I got worried. But all your brain scans were normal."

I sighed heavily, thinking about the way I felt, and I knew I hadn't felt like this in over ten years. I was disoriented, and I felt like I'd been locked inside a casket for 12 hours. That didn't feel normal.

"I talked Mo'at into letting me take you and, uh, your friend back to the lab tonight," Norm said as he glanced at Ava.

I looked at her, seeing Thomas stand over her defensively. I guess he'd decided Norm was a bigger threat than Ava was at that moment. I looked at Norm. "What about Thomas?" I asked, watching my son's ears rear back as he eyed Norm suspiciously.

"Well, he can come too," Norm said with a smile. "We might not have a gigantic tree, but we got a bunch of things he'd probably like to try out in the compound."

I looked at Thomas, silently pleading with him to at least be civil since I did need Norm's help figuring this out, and he bowed his head slightly. I looked at Ava, and she eased closer to me before I looked at Norm and nodded.

He smiled wider, putting his scanner away and then rising as he extended his arm to mine to help me to my feet. Thomas and Ava followed, and since there wasn't a lot for me to take other than my son, we began our descent to the base of the tree.

Most of the Clan had gathered at the base when we emerged, and Mo'at was waiting for us with Eyreal and Tu'San. Mo'at approached me first, gazing into my eyes the way she did when she was trying to figure out what I was thinking. Whenever she looked at me like that, I always tried to blank out my mind, but it never worked.

"You will be away for as long as it will take for this mystery to be uncovered," she said, either asking or confirming I wasn't sure. I bowed my head all the same. "I will not expect you back for several days."

I glanced at Norm, and he nodded. I looked at Mo'at. "You will protect the People while I am away," I nodded. "I will return with answers."

She bowed her head to me, and I stepped back to where Norm was waiting with Thomas and Ava. I turned to the Clan, seeing many of their faces confused and angry. I knew it was my place to explain to them what was happening, but I had no words. Mo'at stepped forward, speaking to the Clan for me and telling them I was leaving to find out how Ava had become and that I would return when I'd found the answers I needed.

Whether any of them really understood, I wasn't sure. Most of them cried out for me to stay where I belonged. It had been ten years since I'd even thought about going back to the lab. I was stepping back into unfamiliar territory, but I'd already decided what was more important at the moment. I knew Mo'at could take care of the Clan, and I had to rely on her to keep everything going.

I led the way through the crowd, allowing them to reach for me even though I couldn't let them stop me. Norm followed with Ava and Thomas, and the voices of the People faded slowly until I couldn't hear them at all. I tried not to look back, failing and turning to look up at the tree I'd made my home. I became determined to return, and I looked at Thomas, pulling him to my side to hold him close.

Norm took the lead slowly, glancing at me as we got further away from the Clan.

"Max will be thrilled to see you," Norm said. "He won't believe this."

I looked at Thomas and then Ava, noticing how she was remaining almost a meter behind us. I extended my hand to her, pulling her to my other side and whispering to her. "It's all gonna be okay," I told her. "Norm's gonna help us figure all this out, okay?"

I leaned back to look at her, and she inhaled deeply, nodding silently. I didn't know if she could understand everything I was saying or if it was just the tone of my voice, but I was just content knowing she was calm.

* * *

_**Definitions:**_

_**Po plltxe - She speak(s).**_

_**Po ke txur - She not strong. (She's not strong.)**_

_**Ma Tsahik - Matriarch (Mo'at)**_

_**Ka neto - Go away. (not to be confused with 'ka' which means 'way')**_

_**These are approximations. I used a translator, so they're probably not exact, but close.  
**_

A little short, but effective. What do we think about Jake's dream? What do we think it means? You be the judge.

Thank you to everyone who added this to their favorites and alerts. But leave me some comments or reviews and tell me if it needs improvement.

Stay tuned!


	6. Old Territory

'Nother Disclaimer. I do not own Avatar, or Jake or Norm or Max. But they are really cool characters.

As stated earlier, Norm is in his Human body. But this chapter should shed some light on his new situation.

Read on!

* * *

_**Old Territory**_

While walking through the forest behind Norm, I thought we were going to walk back to base, even though I knew it was too far to make it there by morning. So when we made it into a small clearing where a Samson was waiting for us, I have to admit I was a little surprised. I knew a lot of the aircraft from when the base had been full had been left behind, but I couldn't remember any pilots being left behind – no one other than Trudy. And she was dead.

I guess Norm saw my face, and he spoke softly. "I started flying her about three years ago," he explained. "And let me tell you, it was not easy." His eyes widened dramatically.

"Where'd you learn to fly?" I asked.

He looked at me with sad eyes, and I bowed my head. It didn't take too much guess work to know who'd taught him how to fly.

"It actually took a little while for me to figure out how to fit into the cockpit, but after I got in, it was easy. Climb in the back and tie in," he instructed, pointing to a few ropes. "We'll be on our way in a minute."

I watched him squeeze into the cockpit, and I couldn't help but smile. I helped Thomas into a seat next to the open area of the back, securing him before I lifted Ava into the center and climbed in with her. It only took a few minutes for us to get strapped in, and Norm looked back at us after a little while to make sure we were ready. I gave him a thumbs-up, and he smiled, starting the engines and turning on the turbines that would lift us from the ground.

I looked at Ava as we lifted off the ground, but she wasn't scared. She held onto my hand tighter than anyone ever had, but she wasn't afraid. It only made me more curious about her and where she'd come from. If Norm's looks had been any indication, he was just as curious about her as I was, and I knew he wanted to know as much as I did. With any hope, he could figure it out without any damage being done to her already fragile state of being.

Our new Hometree was consequently a lot farther from base than the first Hometree had been, and so it took a little longer to get to base than I remembered. I hadn't been back there in ten years, but the minute I saw the lights illuminating half of it, I was suddenly thinking about the day I'd arrived there. When those suits had come to tell me about Tommy and how I could take his place, starting a new life on a new world, they probably didn't know exactly how literal their words had become.

I spotted three small figures on the grass of the compound moments before Norm landed, and they all made their way to us slowly. Max was in front, flanked by two other scientists I vaguely remembered from my first day in my Avatar.

Norm cut the engine just as I helped Thomas off the helicopter, and I helped Ava to the ground as Max stepped closer.

"Jake," he exclaimed, extending his hand, and I took it graciously, remembering it vaguely as a Human greeting. "Can't believe you're really here! It's good to see you!"

"It's good to see you too," I agreed.

"Let's get inside!"

With that, he led the way with the two people with him, and I followed with Thomas and Ava while Norm trailed us slowly.

I looked around while we walked, seeing the obstacle course I'd never used and the plants I'd only ever eaten once. The long-house was silent, and I saw Norm make his way over so he could put away the equipment he'd carried from the chopper. I figured he'd be inside as soon as we were. Max watched him too, arriving at the outer door and then opening it for me, Thomas and Ava.

I had to hunch over as I stepped inside, nudging Thomas and Ava in front of me to the Ambient room where I'd woke up in my Avatar the first time. I never once thought I'd ever be back in this place, for any reason, but now that I was here, it all felt strangely familiar.

"Just have a seat," Max said moving around the room to the airlock that would allow him back into the link room. "Norm'll be here in a few minutes."

I motioned for Thomas to sit on the gurney in the far corner, and once he was settled, I sat on the second gurney with Ava. It was awkward to say the least. I could still remember waking up here and scaring everyone with my, uh, progress. No one had expected me to adapt as quickly as I had, but just thinking about it made me laugh.

"There aren't too many bad memories with this place," the man who'd come in with Max said. I couldn't remember his name anymore.

But I couldn't argue with him. "No," I said looking around. "Not too many. A lot of good ones, actually."

I watched them set out small instruments, and after a few minutes, the airlock opened again, allowing Norm into the room unceremoniously. The first thing I noticed was that he wasn't wearing a mask. He must have seen my face and my ears because he smiled.

"Norm," I said. "How?"

"It's a long story," he said. "And a very complicated one. Hopefully, you'll stick around long enough to hear it. Right now, let's take a look at your friend. What's her name?" he asked stepping front of her.

I looked at her. "Ava," I said, adding, "Avamelia."

"Well, hello, Ava," he said. "My name's Norm."

She looked at me, and I nodded. She looked at him, touching his face. "Norm."

He smiled, even blushed.

I was astonished that she was so calm, especially when Norm reached for her arm and revealed a needle in his hand. I expected her to coil away from him, but I sat there and watched her let him take a sample of her blood. I couldn't hide any of my shock, but I said nothing, even when Norm looked at me and then silently made his way to the airlock to go back into the lab.

It got quiet, and I continued to look around, still thinking of how little time I'd actually spent here. Thomas spoke after a minute or two, still perched on his gurney.

"How long did you stay here?" he asked me.

"Not long," I said looking around. "Now I'm wishing I'd been here a little longer, for my part anyway."

"How long are we going to be here now?"

I glanced at him to see him looking around too. "Not long," I said again. "I hope."

Suddenly, Norm's voice filtered into the room. "Hey, Jake, you still good in there?" he asked.

I found the window, seeing Norm there with Max. "Yeah," I replied.

"We're gonna run her blood through the machine, but it might take a while."

"I can wait," I assured him.

He nodded. "Okay."

He disappeared, and I looked at Ava. I figured it didn't matter how long it took, but I also knew we would be here for a little while.

Several minutes passed, and I remained sat next to Ava. I tried to think of the short time I'd been here, and all I could remember was how stupid most of the people here had been. There had only been a few of the people here who had understood what was really going on. Most of those people were here now. A few of them had been imprisoned and killed. I hated thinking how their sacrifice had been just as great as any of the others who'd also died that day.

Without a way to see exactly when it was, I had no way of knowing how much time passed before I heard Norm's voice again. "Oh, my God," he exclaimed softly.

"What's wrong?" I asked, even though I wasn't sure he heard me.

"I read journals on this," Norm said, his voice full of awe as he stared at the screens in front of him. I couldn't see them, but I could only wonder what he was seeing.

"What is it?" I asked, but he still wasn't looking at me.

"It was supposed to be an experiment," Norm marveled, the smile on his face undeniable even though it faded slightly when he finally looked at me. I felt strange sitting in the tiny room, and I'm pretty sure I looked strange with my clan markings. "When they made our Avatars," he began, "there were some scientists who tried to combine the DNA of a Human with DNA of a Na'vi."

I glanced at Ava, wondering if she understood any of what he said. "I thought they did that with the Avatars," I said, still remembering most of what I'd learned when I'd found out I was coming here.

"No, the Avatars were different," Norm told me. "Only enough DNA from the Human donor was combined to make it work." He smiled again. "No, these scientists were trying to make a real Hybrid. Half-Human and Half-Na'vi."

I couldn't process what he was telling me, shaking my head as I spoke. "I thought that wasn't possible," I countered.

Still staring at the screen in front of him, he chuckled softly. "It's not supposed to be," he confirmed.

He didn't say anything for another few minutes, and I stood up from the gurney to step in front of the window. "Norm," I said. "What does that mean?"

He looked at me from across the lab, moving what he was looking at onto a pad and walking over to me. "It means someone was able to take the work they were doing on the Avatars and make an actual Hybrid. Where did you find her?"

I told him how I'd found her and where I'd been, and that seemed to pique his interest even more. I know how I'd felt finding her so far into the forest, but Norm looked absolutely enthralled.

"I can't believe it," he exclaimed softly. "I mean, it makes complete sense, but I can't believe she survived."

"But I don't know how long she's been out there," I told him seriously, hoping to bring him back down to my level. "Do you think she was made here?"

"I think it's a distinct possibility," he said as Max called his name from the other side of the lab.

"Norm, you might want to look at this," Max said, and Norm looked at me. He stepped away again, hurrying to Max's side.

I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was obvious neither of them had been expecting it. I didn't know how to anticipate what they'd discovered, and when Norm began pointing to the airlock, I became confused.

Then Norm hurried back. "Jake, we're gonna move you back outside," he said urgently. "You're gonna be here for a little while."

"Well, I knew that, but why?" I asked as the airlock opened allowing Max and the other two back into the room.

"We found some video logs," Norm revealed. "About her."

"Who did they belong to?"

"They were Grace's, Jake," he said, his eyes serious but sad. "I think she knew about Ava."

* * *

I didn't have time to process what Norm said, following Max and getting Ava and Thomas as the outer door was opened into the courtyard. Norm followed after a minute, carrying his pad and an exopack. He wasn't wearing it, and when he didn't pass out, I immediately wanted to know how he was able to accomplish breathing in air that was supposed to be toxic to him.

The long-house was at the opposite end of the courtyard, and we all moved kind of fast, hurrying from the doors to the house until we were all inside. Max and the two with him began making up beds, and Norm checked the door locks before he moved to where I'd settled with Thomas and Ava.

"We have to take a lot of precautions when it gets dark," Norm said. "We can only turn the fence on after 1900 hours. We're still trying to conserve, and most animals won't attack during the day."

"Norm," I said staring at him. "How are you still walking around? Tell me what's going on."

Norm looked at Max, watching as the beds were finished and then nodding for them to go back inside. As soon as they were gone, Norm locked the doors and returned to my side. "I didn't want to say anything until I knew for sure. Since we've had the time to test it and not have any of those corporate jerks to stop us, I volunteered to start the tests. I figured I didn't have anything to lose but my life."

"What kinds of tests?" I asked.

"Well, the air on Pandora has more carbon dioxide than the Human body can withstand. There's also other chemicals that make it worse, but we've been able to keep samples of it in the lab. I don't know how much of it you'll understand, but we were able to make the air condense to process it into an injection. And I injected myself with it."

He was right when he said he didn't know if I would understand, but it sounded to me like Norm had been running experiments on himself. But the more I looked at him, the more I realized what he was saying wasn't supposed to be possible. Like Ava. And she was sitting next to me. He was standing in front of me. They were practically walking miracles, or at least they would be if I'd believed in those sort of things.

"How long have you been doing this?" I asked him.

He began working over the pad, sorting through information as he spoke. "The year or so. I can stay outside longer every day. Max thinks if I keep doing it, I'll be able to sleep out here eventually."

"But won't it eventually kill you?" I pressed, thinking selfishly that I didn't want to lose anyone else in my life than I already had.

"Max is keeping an eye on me," Norm said shaking his head. "My tolerance levels get higher every day, and my lungs are processing the air I'm breathing easier than they were a few months ago. Don't worry about me, Jake. I know when to go inside. And I've got a few hours, so let's see what we can find out about your friend."

When Norm pulled up the first log, and I saw Grace's face, I instantly remembered the last time I'd seen her. Her hair was longer, and she didn't have as many wrinkles. And when I heard her voice, I couldn't believe it had been ten years since she'd died.

* * *

"_This is video log 11217, and I'm currently sitting alone in one of the empty habitat rooms to keep this from most of my staff. I just received a message from the lab back home, and I have to document this before she gets here. I'm going to go on record and say that I completely disagree with this, and just because people can do something doesn't necessarily mean they should. What we're doing with the Avatar program is completely different from this, and creating a living, breathing creature from incomplete data and dangerous methods is not what I signed on for. Unfortunately, she's already on her way here. So I can't stop her. The only alternative I can see is to do everything in my power to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible._

_I also want to make very clear that very few people on this base know about this, and it has to stay that way. So I'm encrypting all my logs on this subject. Neither Selfridge nor Quaritch can know about this. If they did, it would undermine my entire program. And when she gets here, I'll have to keep her away from the rest of the team. Of course, I'll have to explain all of this to the geneticist on base, but that's about it. I've also put in for two new recruits, and they've told me they'll begin selection within the year back home. I'll have to get her a room set up and access codes so she could log all her progress without her files being accessed by anyone else. I can only hope no one asks me why I need special facilities."_

Grace went on to talk about specifics of her newest task, including a lot of scientific terms I didn't really understand and a timetable that looked like it had started over 20 years earlier. I noticed the log was date-stamped April 15, 2141, and I realized that Grace had known about this from the very beginning. She'd never said anything to me or Norm or anyone about it, and I knew then that it was probably one of the most important things I was ever gonna know about. I was also curious about who _she_ was. Was this Ava's mother or Ava herself? Ava didn't look 20 years old. She looked more like she was fifteen or sixteen.

Norm had to leave after his few hours were up, even though it looked like he could stay out there a lot longer. He promised to be back in the morning with an exopack since he only wanted to test his tolerance at night when it wasn't as hot or humid. He left the pad with me so I could look at Grace's video logs, but as soon as he was gone, I put it away, deciding to help Thomas get settled in for the night. He was used to sleeping near me and his mother, but I was able convince him how much better it was.

"You're all grown up now anyway," I told him. "So it's time for you to start sleeping by yourself. And I'll be just over there," I pointed where I'd set down the pad. "This will be yours while we're here, okay?"

He didn't understand the concept of a blanket, so I didn't make him use it, but I could see he was uncomfortable. I tried to reassure him it was okay but that it would get better. With that, he relaxed, and I watched him fall asleep before I returned to where Ava had settled across from the bed where I'd laid the pad. I didn't have to say anything to her. She just laid down on the bed and relaxed, watching me until her eyes closed, and I made sure she was okay before I settled back on the bed I'd chosen.

I had to get reacquainted with the bed, since I'd been sleeping with Neytiri and Thomas for the last nine years. Even before Thomas had been born, I'd slept in a hammock in Hometree, and sleeping in a bed again was strange. Since I didn't really want to go back to sleep after what had happened earlier, I decided to look at more of Grace's logs. It was gonna be important for me to know everything when I got back to Mo'at, and I'd figure out what to do when we all went back Home.

Grace's logs jumped forward nearly six years, the same amount of time I remembered being in cryo from Earth on the trip here, and I knew that's where this girl had come from. It seemed like Grace hadn't given it anymore thought or time in between times necessary to document what was going on. I wondered if it was important to her, or if she'd been insulted by the idea of what she was being told to do. From what I remembered about Grace, she wasn't the type of person to take orders well, so this must have been like a slap in the face.

* * *

"_Video Log 12257. Pilot from the shuttle just called to tell me she was on her way down. I've spent the last eleven months getting everything finished for this, and I'm the only person who will be documenting the process. I'm not really sure why I'm bothering, but what can I say, it's a habit. The lab back home has been sending me specs on the experiment, and they're sending samples along with her for us to trial before we do anything major. I've been told that she's aware of the risks, and I don't plan on going over them with her again. When I first started this program, it was about research and interaction. Even Selfridge wanted this to be easy so he could get his money and go home. Now there are scientists on Earth under the impression they can play God with someone's life._

_I also got word from Recruitment that they'd found my two new guys. They both appear to be capable researchers in their individual specs. They're both going through training right now. Dr. Norman Spellman and Dr. Thomas Sully should be on their way here within the next year and a half, and their Avatars will be coming with them. I was able to attach a few specs for them to go over in the transmission packet. Dr. Sully showed a lot of interest in this new project. I'll look forward to seeing his point of view where the experiment is concerned. I've also heard good things about Dr. Spellman. They'll be good additions to the team. I'll probably have to acclimate them when they get here so she'll be on her own for a few days. Surely she can handle that."_

It was the first time in ten years I'd heard Tommy's name from anyone other than Norm or those suits back on Earth who'd come to tell me he was dead. But of course Grace had known about Tommy. She'd been expecting him. Not me. Whether she'd known I was coming instead of him, I still didn't know. The way she'd acted the day she'd met me, it made me think she knew there had been a little hiccup in the plans. And when I'd showed up, all the plans she'd had of letting Tommy in on this had probably been put to bed. I was a Marine, after all, whether I'd been on her team or not. I knew she hadn't trusted me at first.

But Tommy had known about this, no matter how little of it had been common knowledge or not. I couldn't think of the last time I'd actually seen him before they'd burned his body, but this was huge. The UN would have ripped this apart if they'd found out. And the fact that he hadn't told anybody meant he'd known how serious it was. I couldn't believe how far out of the loop I felt. And he'd taken it to his death.

I looked at Ava as she slept in the bed next to mine. My mind was already going over the small amount of time I'd spent here before I'd started my life with Neytiri. Now that I knew this, I was starting to think about what would have happened if Tommy had actually made it here. Would any of what had happened because of me even happened in the first place? The obvious answer was no, but now I didn't think it was so simple anymore. If Tommy had been here, I wondered if he would've known about Ava or her mother. I'd probably be dead in a ditch somewhere, and I hated thinking that I'd benefitted from him getting shot down for a stupid reason.

I didn't regret coming here. But this changed everything. Didn't it? Was it even right for me to be here now asking Norm to run tests and find out Ava's past? I didn't want to relive my past. How could I make her relive hers? Normally I'd need as much information as I could absorb. But this was anything but normal.

* * *

Familiar faces coming back to visit us! Who could've guessed that Grace would know about this? And we all know that Tom and Norm were in Avatar training together. I decided to my own little spin on it to see how they were actually selected.

As always, tell me what you think! Thanks for all the reviews and alerts and favorites. Keep them coming!


	7. Logic

**Okay, Kiddies. Disclaimer Here. I do not own Avatar. It's an awesome movie though, and I hope the sequel is too.**

**Thanks for the reviews, favorites and alerts. Keep 'em coming.  
**

* * *

_**Logic**_

By morning, I still hadn't slept, but I'd put the pad away completely. I'd kept thinking about Tommy all night, looking at my son and Ava and wondering if I was doing the right thing. I did want to know as much about Ava as I could, but knowing what I knew now was making me backtrack every decision I'd made after Tommy had died. Even if I didn't have any regrets, I'd only achieved opening up a whole new batch of questions without very many answers on the horizon, and I was already doubting that Norm could do more than study the information he'd found.

Ava was awake with first light, and she found me as I sat on the front steps of the long-house by myself. I figured Norm would be another hour or so, and I had to keep myself busy so I wouldn't start reading Grace's logs again. It was easy to convince Ava to walk through the garden with me. While we were there, I tried to remember the Human names of the plants, and I taught her the Na'vi words for the same plants. I don't know how much of it she remembered, but I knew then that I would teach her more when we returned Home. She was a lot calmer on base than I expected her to be, and I knew that probably meant she'd been here before. It was probably familiar to her, and she was comfortable here. I hoped that didn't mean she wouldn't want to go back with me.

Norm emerged from the airlock with his pack while I was walking around the garden with Ava. He smiled when he saw us, stretching his arms above his head.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"I didn't," I informed him, and he frowned.

"What happened?"

I told him about Tommy, and he seemed just as distressed as I'd felt. It looked like Tommy hadn't even told Norm about this. But Norm didn't look worried. In fact, it looked like he came up with a plan standing there in front of me.

"It's okay," he said. "We'll figure this out. Now that we know about the experiment, Max can check all the base records. He's gotten really good at cracking encryptions lately. It'll be okay, Jake."

I must not have looked convinced, because he got kind of defensive.

"What's wrong, Jake?" he asked. "I'm just trying to help."

"I know," I said softly. "And I really appreciate it. Most everyone else around wouldn't even want to understand why I'm doing this. But if Tommy knew about this, and Grace was planning on letting him in on this when he got here, how do I know Ava wouldn't have ended up in the jungle if he'd come instead of me? How do I know I didn't cause what happened to her?"

Norm stepped closer to me. "First," he said laying his hand over my shoulder. "We need to find out how this happened. Sure, we know Grace and Tom knew, but we still don't have any specifics. I told you this was going to take time. Let's not rush this, okay? Come on, let me show you something," he said gesturing back toward the compound.

I turned to Thomas, but he was already making his way toward one of the obstacle course towers. I figured he'd be okay for a little while, and when I looked at Ava, she was already reaching for my arm to hold onto me. I lowered my hand to hers, looking at Norm and nodding for him to lead the way. He smiled again, turning to the compound.

"So why are you out here now?" I asked. I smiled. "I thought you liked being in the lab."

He glanced at me, seeing my smile and continuing toward the compound. "I do like being the lab. And Max is always telling me not to do too much, since I am still using my Human body. But I like it. Plus I can use the outside lab a lot, so it keeps everything fresh."

I looked around, looking at him again. "Outside lab?" I repeated.

He smiled again. "Come on," he said again. "I'll show you."

With ten years passed since I'd been at the base, I figured I was going to see things a little different. But I'd never figured on an extra room being built onto the external wall of the compound that looked like it had been there a few years. It had everything the lab inside had, except it was under a screened cover and had no doors. Norm sat at one of the tables with a microscope on it, and Max appeared at the window in front of him.

"Morning, Jake," he said with a smile.

I nodded.

"Pull up the logs we found last night, Max," Norm requested. "We need to have a baseline for the timetable."

"You got it."

Norm started the playback with the log I'd looked at the night before where Grace had mentioned him and Tommy, but I hadn't realized that the very next one was from the same day. She even mentioned Ava's mother by name.

"_Amelia Shaw will be total seclusion from the rest of my staff,"_ Grace informed the video log. _"And not just so no one will know why she's here. Her body will have to be completely disease-free for the next eighteen months for her to participate in the experiment. Even the guys back home agreed she shouldn't have too much interaction with the rest of the base. So until I can get her set up in her own habitat, I've agreed to give her access to my video link."_

Grace stood up out of the video, and within a few seconds, the beautiful face of a young woman with penetrating blue-grey eyes and light-dark brown hair replaced her. I immediately knew this face. I'd been looking at it for the last day. I knew instantly this woman was Ava's mother. She obviously did too, seeing the face on the screen and reaching out to touch it. She even whispered.

"Mama."

While I was sitting next to Norm, I reached for her, pulling her to sit in front of me as the woman in the video began to speak.

"_I think I did this once before I got on the shuttle here,"_ she said softly, a small grin tugging at the left corner of her mouth. _"It feels like it was yesterday, but almost six years have passed. I was only 20 when I volunteered to do this. After what happened to my sister Ava, I wanted to do something for her that would make a difference in my life. So here I am. I'm still not sure why they picked me out of all the people they could have picked, but the man who called me told me it had something to do with my DNA. I tried to take that as a compliment. I think my sister would have been proud."_

In the background of the video, Grace appeared to be trying to mind her own business, but it didn't look like she was succeeding. I could see her glancing over her shoulder at Amelia. I silently wondered what had happened to her sister. Had she been like me? Taking her sister's spot. Was her sister dead, like Tommy had died before I'd come here? Her sister's name had been Ava. Avamelia.

"_You need your rest, Ms. Shaw,"_ Grace called from the back of the room. _"It's almost 1800 hours, and you need to eat something. We'll start another log tomorrow when we get you in the lab at 0600."_

Grace being all formal was a little strange to me. I could still remember her interrupting me during a lot of my own video logs.

"_Well, I guess that's all for right now,"_ Amelia said, still grinning slightly. _"Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll have a little bit more to say. All I know right now is that I'm doing this for Ava. Not just so she'd be proud of me, but because all she ever wanted was to be a mother. And that got taken away from her. I know it isn't the most logical way to go about it, but at least this way, I get to be a miracle of modern science. Plus it's beautiful here, and if everything goes right, I'll get to see some of it in a way most people could only dream of."_

She rose out of the video slowly, turning to Grace and allowing her to turn off the video. A new log came up, but I wasn't paying attention to it anymore. I was looking at Ava. She was crying, like she hadn't seen that face in a very long time. It was at that point that I realized how much like Thomas she really was. I honestly didn't need to know anymore than that, but as soon as Norm started playing the next log, I heard Grace's voice again.

"_Video log 12259. It's just after 0600 hours, and I think the only other people awake on base are a few of the mess hall people making breakfast. But if I'm going to keep this away from the rest of my staff, I guess I'm going to be working some strange hours," _she sighed heavily rubbing her eyes and looking around a dim lab._ "It's been documented that before she left Earth, Ms. Shaw was injected with the proper chemical compounds that will allow her to adapt to the Pandoran atmosphere. When I asked why everyone coming here couldn't have this injection, I was told to keep my nose out the company's business, which to me means it's probably too expensive for more than one person to have in a desirable period of time. It will also be documented that Ms. Shaw will be receiving hormone injections which should make it easier for her body to do what we're about to force it to do. Since this is Day One of the experiment, I'm going to start attaching information, baselines and results onto my logs. Don't get excited. I'm probably the only person capable of reading them."_

I watched Grace move away from the video link, stepping back to where a cart with a series of injectors had been laid out. I could see Amelia in the background, sitting in a chair that was slightly reclined. Another woman I didn't recognize was standing by Amelia, and when Grace injected the first fluid, Amelia closed her eyes, inhaling deeply and balling her fists. I couldn't tell if it was painful, but it looked uncomfortable to say the least. I was instantly thinking about the day I almost died.

Waking up in a link that was currently filling with toxic air would be enough to kill anyone, but I was able to hold on long enough to get myself free. But I almost wasn't fast enough to get to the rebreather that was less than two meters away. Luckily for me, after I'd passed out, Neytiri had realized where I really was, and she'd saved me. Trying to suck in what little oxygen was in the air had felt like someone was shoving hot needles down my throat, but what Amelia was experiencing looked like someone was pinning her down and shoving bamboo splinters under her fingernails.

"Max," Norm said suddenly, "we need to find this girl. Run her through the facial recognition software. Surely a camera had to pick her up somewhere."

"I'm on it," Max called.

"With any luck," Norm continued, "we can find her video logs too. No way would Grace have someone here and not make them log their time with her. Remember how she used to make you do yours right after getting out of your link."

I chuckled. "Yeah, I still remember."

It got quiet as the video log documented Grace and the other woman giving Amelia her injections, and Norm spoke softly after a few minutes.

"I, uh, haven't really gotten a chance to ask," he said. "How are you?"

I looked at him as I sat there with Ava in front of me. "What do you mean?"

He bowed his head slightly, his eyes closed. "Jake, it's only been two days. I know you must be a wreck."

Being reminded of Neytiri's death wasn't something I wanted to think about at that moment, but I was unable to stop the flood of memories that hit the front of my thoughts the minute he said it had only been two days. I realized then that I'd done it two days in a row. I'd actually made it two mornings without her. I knew how I'd done it this time. Having something to focus on was helping, but now that I was thinking about it, I wasn't sure if I could make it another minute.

"Hey," Norm said, laying his hand over my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know it's not easy for you. I didn't mean to bring it up. I just want to make sure you're okay."

"Well, I'm not," I snapped, exhaling and closing my eyes.

"Norm, the DNA mapping is done," Max called suddenly.

"Send it out here," Norm requested.

Within a few seconds, the screen was overtaken by a series of numbers and lines that didn't make any sense to me. But Norm got that look on his face like the one he'd had the night before when Max had told him about the experiment.

"Oh, wow!" he exclaimed softly. He looked at me. "Are you looking at this?"

I nodded, but I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking at. "Norm, can you help me out here?" I asked.

"When they started making the Avatars," Norm began, "they weren't using one Na'vi donor. They were actually using a composite of many Na'vi so that no one attribute would filter through. Na'vi don't actually have what we call DNA, so they had to make a composite of the genetic material to be able to combine it with the Human DNA of the donor."

"What does that mean?" I asked softly, looking at Ava as she still watched the miniaturized log as it had shrunk to the lower left corner of the screen.

"Your Avatar didn't just have one Na'vi donor and Tom's DNA. There were probably a dozen Na'vi donors. All the Avatars were made to be remote-controlled by Human Drivers. They had no consciousness or sentience. At least not until you. It's different for Ava."

I looked at her again, discovering her looking at me. "How is it different?" I asked, still looking at her.

"Ava really only has two donors. One Human and one Na'vi. Her mother was obviously Human, and her father was Na'vi. We might never be able to find him, but he's out there. He's probably one of the first Na'vi Grace encountered when they took samples back to Earth for the Avatars."

I looked at Norm. "How much of Ava is Human?" I asked. "If she has a tail and a queue like I do."

Norm shook his head. "We'd have to run scans on her to know for sure which parts of her are completely Human and which parts aren't. Obviously, her lungs have been enhanced to process the air, along with most of her internal organs. We also need to make a baseline for her age, but we'll probably find that out with the logs. It's all gonna be okay, Jake. We're gonna figure this out. I promise."

I looked at Ava again, and I think that was when I decided to see this through. "Then we better get started," I told Norm.

With that, Norm looked at Max, and inside the lab, they started getting everything ready for Ava.

"_Ma sempul_!" Thomas came running over to where we were, a big smile across his face. "I did it! I climbed to the top and jumped down, and it didn't damage my bones! I'm as strong as you are now!"

I smiled myself, patting him on the back. "That's great, Thomas," I urged. "How do you feel about doing the whole course while I step inside with Ava for a little while? We'll leave the door to the lab open if you want to come in after a while."

Thomas stood up straight. "Is she okay?"

My smile faded slightly, but I swore to him regardless. "She's gonna be fine. You go on. I never got to do it. You can do something your father never did."

It seemed he liked the sound of that, and he turned to leave within a few seconds to begin his task. I looked at Norm, and he nodded for me and Ava to go inside. I kept an eye on Thomas as we all walked inside, and when I was sure he was okay, I followed Norm into the ambient room where Max was setting up a scanner.

"Remember your first day in here?" Max asked smiling.

"Yeah," I chuckled.

"We're gonna set her up over here," Norm said moving to the bed on the other side of the room. "You can sit with her if you want."

I helped Ava onto the bed, laying her back since I figured they would want to measure her from head to toe. She held onto my hand the whole time, watching me and then looking at Norm as he stood over her.

"Just relax," he said softly, rubbing her forehead. "This is gonna be totally painless."

She seemed to understand him, looking at me and nodding that it was okay for me to let go of her hand. After that, I knelt into the floor by her head, watching Norm pull out an electronic pad.

He measured her from head to toe, smiling as the pad calculated softly. "Approximately two-point-one meters tall," he reported. He absently touched a button on the bed, and it beeped. "Almost 100 kg in weight. Muscle tone looks good. Her markings look real good too. She's got freckles the way we have spots! Amazing." Norm put the pad away, taking Ava's hand in his. "Five fingers, good size." He moved to her feet. "Five toes. She looks about a size 11."

"The scanner's ready," Max said, moving around to Norm's side with the portable scanner.

Norm took the scanner, smiling at Ava and hovering the scanner above her head. In about twenty seconds, he arrived at her feet, chuckling and pressing a few buttons before it beeped softly.

"Wow," he whispered.

"What is it?" I asked.

"All her organs have been enhanced," Norm exclaimed softly. "Her lungs, her heart, even her brain. Her bones have been reinforced with the carbon fibers like yours. And her eyes! They're beautiful." He looked at me. "She can sit up now."

I helped Ava sit up, allowing her to hold onto my hands as Norm pulled out another pad.

"I'm gonna take some pictures," he said. "So we can map her markings."

"Does she need to stand up?"

Norm nodded. "She can."

I pulled Ava to her feet, her back facing Norm as he spoke softly. "Can you pull her hair out of the way?"

I started to, reaching around her neck for her hair that was touching her waist, and she met me halfway, pulling her hair over her shoulder and then lifting her eyes to mine. I was instantly reminded of the last time I'd looked at Neytiri when we hadn't been hunting. It must have been four or five days since then. It took Norm a couple of minutes, moving the pad over her arms and then her legs. Her tail whipped him in the head a few times, and I tried not to laugh.

"Turn her around," Norm said.

Slowly, I turned Ava to face Norm, pulling her hair back, and she looked at me for a few seconds before Norm spoke again.

"Can you get her to look at me?"

I pointed at Norm, and she looked at him. It took him another minute to finish, and he put that pad away, stepping closer to her and reaching out to touch her face.

"You're very pretty, Ava," he said. She actually blushed. Norm looked at me. "Has she talked since you found her?"

I nodded. "A little. I don't know how much she understands," I said looking at her. "It's one of the reasons why I want to know how long she's been in the forest."

He smiled at Ava. "Well, we'll find out. I promise."

"Norm," Max called. "I think we found her."

Norm nodded at Max, moving to the window and helping with the transfer so he could pull up the information on a different screen. "Is this all of it?" Norm asked Max.

"Yeah. Looks like she was on base about seven years. Wonder why she didn't rotate back to Earth after her tour was over."

I didn't want to say anything, but I already knew the answer.

Norm seemed to catch on, speaking as he glanced at me. "I don't think she was here on a regular tour," he said. "I think she came here without the intention of going back." He looked at Max. "Get all of her logs compiled. We've still got a lot of tests to run, but we don't have to keep them inside while we do that. Jake can look at the logs out in the long-house."

"Give me a few minutes," Max said with a nod.

I looked at Norm. "If Tommy knew about this," I said, "do you think any of this would have happened if he was here instead of me?"

Even though I was sure Norm knew the answer, he tried to look indifferent. "I honestly don't know, Jake. Tom might not have been a Marine, or even an ex-Marine, but he was pretty strong-minded. A lot like you. We might never know if he would have allowed any of what happened to take place."

"But Quaritch would have never approached him," I countered. "They wouldn't have tried to use him to infiltrate the People, and Grace wouldn't have been given another chance. More people would have died, and maybe Tommy then too. Why am I feeling like this?"

Norm laid his hand over my shoulder. "You're thinking about a lot of things that can't be changed. It's not gonna help you or Ava to think about that right now. Let's just learn everything we can, and then we'll see about wondering what could have been. Okay?"

I sighed softly, glancing at Ava and knowing Norm was right. Ava moved closer to me, and Max finished compiling the logs a minute before Norm led the way outside. Thomas was currently running between the columns in the obstacle course, and he smiled when he saw me, waving from the other end of the compound.

I smiled at him, following Norm to the Long-House with Ava.

"I'm gonna go back inside for right now," Norm said. "That way, I can take a closer look at Ava's blood work. And I'll let you get some rest. You really need to rest, Jake. Everything's gonna be okay. I promise."

He gave me the pad as we arrived at the Long-House, and while he went back into the lab to work, I sat on the steps where I'd been only a few hours ago. I knew he was right. I did need to rest. But I couldn't relax. So I sat there trying to figure out what to do next.

I didn't know if I wanted to look at Grace's logs or Amelia's, but watching Ava follow Thomas into the obstacle course made the decision for me. I pulled both sets up and picked the ones that looked like they belonged to Amelia, playing the first one as I returned to the inside of the Long-House. I sat on the bed I'd sat on the night before, settling against it as the log started.

"_This is technically only my second log,"_ Amelia said as she sat in a dark lab with Grace and the other woman moving around behind her. _"It's just before six, and I've been here for a day. Dr. Augustine was able to get me into my habitat last night after my hormone injections, but I didn't sleep. She said that was normal, for me to be restless. I can't get used to my surroundings fast enough. She said she's been in touch with a few of the new arrivals that won't be here for about six or seven years. I asked her if I could too, and she said no. But I'll ask her again later. It's weird being here after spending most of my life back home. I didn't have to go through a lot of the more rigorous training that most of the other people here did. I guess because I'm not like most of the other people here."_ She sighed softly, glancing around like she was making sure no one could hear her, and then she looked at the video log again.

"_I think I had a dream about Ava last night. She was here with me, and we were running around outside. I know it's crazy, but I feel like she's here with me. If she was here, I think she'd like it. Dr. Augustine said I might be able to go outside today, but I'll still have to wear a mask. Either way, I'm actually looking forward to it. I'll finally have images to go with all the stories I've been told about this place. We'll have to finish my injections first, but hopefully before anyone else gets up."_

While she left the link on, I watched her resume her position from the previous log, sitting in a reclined chair while Grace and the other woman began giving her a series of injections. It looked like she didn't react as sharply this time as she had the day before, adjusting to the sensation and able to endure the remainder of her injections until they finished, and Grace turned off the link before the next one started.

I must have sat there for hours, watching and listening to Amelia talk about everything that was going on around her. I figured there had to be hundreds of them with how long she'd been on base, and most of them were either early in the morning before her injections or late at night when she couldn't sleep. Three months worth of logs went by fast, and most of it sounded like she was adjusting every day. It didn't look like she was leading any revolutions by the end of her first three months, not at all like me. But it seemed like she fell in love with her surroundings just as much as I had, even though it looked like she got more disappointed every day. Apparently, the hormones were making her a little irritable.

"_This is my 100__th__ video log, and it's just after two,"_ she sighed, rubbing her eyes and looking like she hadn't slept in a week. _"Grace is telling me they're getting ready for the first trial, but it'll be a couple of weeks before we'll know anything for sure. I think she can tell I'm getting a little miserable. She spends most of her days at her school, and I have to stay here unless she's with me. Lori has started giving me things to do around the lab during the day so no one will ask me any questions. I'm actually learning a lot about the Avatar program. It makes me wonder exactly what I'm doing here. Am I doing the right thing? It's been three months, and I feel useless. I think Grace is getting worried about me. It's too late for me to go back. The shuttle left a couple of days ago to pick up the next shipment of supplies and crew. The new recruits are going to be on the next arrival, and Grace is already getting me ready for the time I'm going to have to spend by myself in the habitat. Grace decided I need someone else to talk to, other than myself. I don't know who she plans on getting to talk to me, but she said it'd be tomorrow. It won't be a live link. Nothing here is because of the distance the transmissions have to travel, so I guess it'll be like having a pen pal. So to speak. Is that a video-log pal?"_

I smiled.

"_I've got to get some sleep. I guess you'll know who it is when I do. I'll be back at 0600 hours, I guess."_

She turned off the link, and I put the pad down, lifting my head to see it getting dark. I hadn't realized how late it was until I saw Norm coming out of the airlock after a day in the lab. I also noticed Thomas and Ava coming in from outside, and I decided to wait until later to look at more of her logs.

"Jake," Norm said, stretching his arms above his head. "You are not gonna believe what we found out. Hey, did you sleep?"

I didn't lie. "No."

I could see he was disappointed, but he moved through the house to where I was still sitting.

"_Ma sempul_," Thomas called. "We found food for you. I ran through the poles and obstacle course ten times!"

I smiled at him, allowing him to sit next to me as Ava carried fruit in her hands. I took them from her, bowing my head.

"_Oel ngati kameie,_" I whispered.

She tilted her head, and I knew she didn't understand me. But she would. I would teach her.

"Jake, you won't believe this," Norm said sitting on my other side. "Max and me worked all day. We isolated all of Ava's markers. Her DNA is incredible! It's no wonder they picked her mother for this experiment. Her DNA combined almost perfectly with the Na'vi donor."

I looked at him. "What does that mean?" I asked.

"Ava's the perfect combination of Humans and Na'vi. The way her skin looks, her eyes and her hands and feet. Even her freckles! We still don't know what kinds of hormones they were giving her mother, but whatever they gave her, it aligned her body perfectly. Ava's one of a kind. There's no one in the Universe like her. Max is gonna keep looking for specific drugs in the database," Norm explained.

"So what do we do until then?"

"Once we know what her mother was given to encourage the pregnancy, we'll know how she was made," Norm said, looking at Ava with a smile. "We'll know if she actually carried her or if she was grown like we were. Do you still have your pad?"

"Yeah."

"Let me see it," he said, reaching for the pad I'd set on the table beside the bed. "I asked Max to upload some basic speech lessons for Ava. We can start testing her vocabulary and her comprehension skills. Unless you want to rest."

I handed him the pad. "I'm not tired," I told him. "And plus, after what happened . . . last time, I'm kinda afraid to close my eyes again."

Norm sighed. "Jake, I did scans yesterday. You're fine. There could be a million reasons why you zoned out yesterday. You're not Human anymore. Your mind was transferred from your Human body into this one," he pointed at my chest. "Your Human body was buried at the base of the Tree of Souls. There's no going back, man."

"I know," I said bowing my head. "And I wouldn't go back even if I could. But finding her, it didn't happen by chance. I was led to her."

"By who?" he asked, but I was pretty sure he already knew. Then he bowed his head. "Oh."

I was convinced now. It was the only thing that made sense, especially after I'd spent ten years with Neytiri and watched her learn from Mo'at. Finding Ava had been the Will of Eywa. "I have to find out why," I told Norm. "Because no one has done what I did. I'm the one who passed through Her Eye and came back, and if She's trying to tell me something, I have to listen. If not for myself, then for Neytiri. If what I dreamed is any indication, then I don't think she's finished with me."

Norm moved closer. "What did you dream?" he asked softly.

I told him, since I could still remember it with disturbing clarity, and once he knew that, his smile faded completely. Once I combined the dream with the way I'd felt when I woke, I knew it wasn't good. I knew it wasn't possible, especially since my old body was buried in the ground hundreds of kilometers away. But this was still only just now making sense to me. The only logical thing I could understand was that I wasn't going to understand this for a very long time.

* * *

**All right. You all know what to do, right? So hop to it.**

**And I know what it seems like Ava is, but do not jump to conclusions. Give it a little time.**

**Until the next time, which hopefully won't be too long, Stay tuned!  
**


	8. Connections

**Disclaimer Uptop. I do not own Avatar or Jake or Norm. Another dream sequence is coming up, so read into all you will.**

**Again, thanks for the reviews and favorites and alerts. Give me some more! I like them.  
**

* * *

_**Connections**_

Norm took it upon himself to show Ava the lessons Max had uploaded onto the pad, and he insisted that I lay down and rest before I did anymore viewing. That's when he showed me out behind the long-house where they'd pulled together a hammock that looked a lot like the one I'd used my first night in Hometree. After I made sure Ava was okay with Norm and Thomas was out in the obstacle course again, I took Norm's advice. I still wasn't tired, and I still couldn't relax. I kept thinking about Grace and Tommy and Amelia, and I had no idea how to make all of it stop. These three people, two of which I thought I'd known better than anyone else, all seemed to share the same secret, and it made me feel like an outsider.

Apparently, Norm was just as insightful as Mo'at, because within minutes of me laying in that hammock, despite me not being able to blank out my mind, I fell asleep again for the first time in a day.

I dreamed I was back on Earth, with Tommy before we'd even known about all this. Since learning about him knowing about this, I'd actually been thinking about the last time I'd been with him. It was still a little blurry, but this dream felt real, like all this thinking and learning had awakened the deepest parts of my memories. Before he'd been scheduled to leave, but after I'd come back from Venezuela, there had been a few times when we'd had dinner together. Or well, we'd tried. Mostly, we'd spent most of the time with him trying to convince me that my life wasn't over. I'd been in a wheelchair without any real means of resolving that particular situation, and I guess I hadn't really wanted a good reason to keep going.

"_There are a lot of things you can do without having to shoot a gun, Jake,"_ he'd told me at one point.

"_Like what? Be a scientist? Fly halfway across space to figure out where I came from? Like you?"_

"_Maybe,"_ he chuckled. _"Listen, I don't like seeing you like this. You're not always going to feel this way."_

"_How do you know?" _I asked.

"_Because you're special, Jake. Like me. I mean, look at us. We're already unique. Anything I can do, you can do better. You just have to keep your head up. You're better than this. I know it."_

I remembered looking at him like he was crazy. He'd been studying to go on some research mission — I hadn't known which one at the time - and there I was, in a wheelchair without the ability to dress myself without professional help I refused to employ. He was goin' places. Not me.

"_You're the special one, Tommy,"_ I said softly.

"_You're special too, Jake Sully," _he replied, and this time there was something in his voice that made me think he knew something I didn't. His eyes, while they'd always looked at me with hope and insight, were different now. I looked at him, and it looked like he was trying to will me to believe what he was telling me. _"If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to make sure you know that you're not worthless. You can make a difference the way you are right now, and no one can tell you any different. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll lead a revolution on an alien world."_

I didn't remember this part of the conversation, and it felt like I was making it up as I went along. Suddenly, I was sitting in the Crematorium looking over Tommy's dead body. But I wasn't the only one there this time.

Besides the two RDA guys, there was a young woman on his other side, dark hair falling around her face and obviously pregnant as she reached for his face and caressed his cheek. I didn't recognize her for a few seconds, and then she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, revealing her face to me.

Amelia.

"_Everything's going to be okay, Ava,"_ she whispered, holding her other hand over her belly. _"He's in a better place now. She'll keep him with us now."_

Then she looked at me.

And I realized that I had seen her on the base before leaving with Grace and Norm after arriving in Tommy's place.

* * *

Light woke me as I still laid in the hammock behind the long-house, and I opened my eyes to see it was morning. I laid still for several minutes, thinking about my dream and knowing it wasn't just a dream. I was being shown something I needed to know to figure this out, and it felt like I could do that now that I knew more than I'd known before closing my eyes. _She protects only the balance of life._

Neytiri's voice resounded in my head, and I thought about Tommy. Was it possible this had been done so I could be here instead of Tommy? Was it even fair for me think like that after all this time?

I left the hammock without any real resolve to do anything productive, and when I stepped into the Long-house, I saw Ava and Thomas asleep in their respective beds, so I didn't bother them. I saw the pad back on my bed, and it was obvious Norm had wanted me to keep looking at Amelia and Grace's logs. I figured since I didn't have anything better to do, I might as well find out everything I could before I took Thomas and Ava back to Hometree.

Amelia's next log was date-stamped less than twelve hours after the previous one, and I could see something different in her eyes. It had been a while since I'd seen it, but I swear I could see hope in her eyes.

"_Well, it's still May 4__th__, but it's just after 1300 hours. We completed the first trial injection this morning. Grace says it'll be a few weeks before we know if it worked. I have to admit, being able to do something for once made me feel a little better than just taking injections and wandering around base without anyone to talk to about how I'm always so moody and always so cranky. I can't have any strange food for the next few weeks to promote the procedure, so Grace made me a list of things to get from the mess hall."_

She smiled then, for the first time in weeks, reaching for the video link and touching a few buttons before she spoke again. _"I also got my, uh, first transmission today from back home. Grace's friend is apparently very punctual. And I was about to send him a reply, so I'm going to attach his message onto this log so it'll be encrypted. He's a doctor, and he's supposed to be finishing his training now to be on his way here in about a year. Grace said she told him I needed a friend who wasn't on the base, and I think we could definitely be friends. He has a sibling, a brother who's off somewhere with the military. He said his brother's name's Jake. I told him about my sister. So here he is."_

The log didn't end, but the image changed. My heart leapt into my throat immediately as I stared at an image of Tommy as he sat in his habitat at the research facility. The first thing he did was smile and wave.

"_Hello. I'm Tom. But Jake calls me Tommy, so you can too if you want. Dr. Augustine said you needed someone to talk to, and I guess she picked me because of what she told me about what you're doing. I've never done anything like this before. I'm not really good talking to women. Jake tried to set me up with a girl once, and I bored her to tears talking about my research. So I'll try not to do the same thing to you. Dr. Augustine told me about the experiment, and I just wanted to say that I think you're probably the bravest woman I've ever, uh, met. I wonder if that makes me brave too, but I guess we'll see in a few years when I get there. So anytime you need to talk, you call me. I don't care if it's three in the morning and you feel like shit. I'm here for whatever you need. And I'll try not to get too technical when I call you back. But I won't make any promises."_

Tommy talked to her for over an hour, talking about Norm and the program, and he told her about me a little more than what she'd already said. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My brother was talking to this woman like he'd known her for years. He was talking to her like she was an old friend. I wondered if Grace had told him not to be so formal. I wondered if he'd thought about the future, when he was dead and this woman was almost five light-years away from him.

Norm emerged from the airlock while I was sitting there, stretching and seeing me there, but he didn't ask if I'd slept. I think he already knew I had or he wouldn't have left me in the hammock. But I guess the look on my face told him something was wrong, and he moved to my side.

"What is it?" he asked sitting on the bed.

I handed the pad to him and watched him go through the log again, and I could tell his reaction was the same as mine.

"I can't believe it," Norm said. "I can't believe he never told me about this, about her. We trained together for three years, and he never mentioned this to me at all. How long did it go for?" he asked looking at the other logs.

"I don't know," I said. "I just saw this one. But Grace did it. Because she was expecting Tommy instead of me. It's no wonder she wasn't happy to see me. And not just because I had no idea what I was doing."

Norm scrolled through Amelia's logs and then Grace's, but he didn't open another one up. He was quiet for a few minutes, looking at Ava and Thomas and then giving the pad back to me. "It'll be okay," he said finally. "I mean, I know I never thought Tom could keep something like this from all the people he had to report to, but we're learning it now. And we know now. We're putting the puzzle of Ava together now, and Max said it would only be a day or two before we have everything worked out." He paused, inhaling deeply and smiling slightly. "You should have heard Ava last night. She caught on so fast, I couldn't show her and teach her fast enough. It was amazing."

I grinned, looking at Ava as she slept. "Yeah, she is pretty amazing. I want to get her back Home soon. That way I can teach her myself."

He stood up abruptly. "Of course," he said, but I could tell he wasn't convinced.

I looked at him. "What?"

"Nothing," he said, moving toward the door.

I followed him, leaving the pad behind. "No," I said, "what's that tone for?"

"It's nothing," he said again. "It's just that she's obviously different from everyone in the Clan, and we both know how resistant the People are to those who are different. There are still a lot of them who won't accept me. Most of them accept you because you helped them. You saved them. I only fought with them. None of them ever talk to me whenever I come, except Mo'at, but that's only because you've told her that I won't hurt them. At least I did look like them. But Ava doesn't look like them, not really, and you know a lot of them won't accept her. Whether you tell them to or not, do you really think any of them will trust her when they barely trust me? Even Thomas looks at me like I don't belong there."

"I've talked to him about that," I insisted.

"I know," Norm said quickly. "But you should already know that you're not going to be able to change everyone's minds. They're always going to feel the way they feel. And if they feel that way about me, it's going to be worse for Ava."

"I'm not leaving her here," I told him with as much finality as I could. "She's my responsibility. I found her, and I'm going to take care of her. Whether most of them accept her or not. She doesn't belong here anymore than she belongs there."

"That's just the thing, Jake," Norm pressed. "She doesn't really belong anywhere. Are you really going to subject her to the kind of looks and words I get or you got? We could handle that stuff because we understood it. She won't understand. She won't belong there."

"Then she'll belong with me!" I hissed, angry for the first time in over two days. And I know I scared Norm, because he backed up a couple steps. I didn't apologize, but I softened my face, glancing back into the house where Thomas and Ava were still sleeping.

"I'm sorry I brought it up," Norm said after a minute. "I should know by now that you'll figure something out. I just want her to be okay. She's so unique, and if anything bad happened to her . . ."

He didn't finish, and I didn't need him to. I knew how much I'd be asking the Clan to accept Ava the way they'd accepted me. At least I did look like them, and it was easy to overlook my differences. It would be a lot harder for them to overlook hers, and I knew how dangerous it would be for her. But I didn't know what else to do. I wasn't going to leave her here on the base for Norm to study her. She wasn't staying on the base. Period.

"I have to do this," I told him. "And not just for myself. Now that I know Tommy knew about this, I have to do right by her, and leaving her here isn't right. Please understand that. Try to see it from my point of view."

Norm didn't respond to that, but I had to hope he would humor me just this once. I didn't want to tell him about my dream, but I still needed his input. I needed his fresh perspective, and it was now or never.

"And it isn't just about Tommy," I began. "I had another dream last night. About him."

I told Norm the rest of the dream, including the part where I knew I'd seen Amelia on base before we'd left for the mountains, and I could tell he was interested. Norm always got this look on his face when he got his mind set on something new. This whole thing with Ava was turning out to be the biggest thing either of us had ever hit head on, and if it was throwing me for a loop, I could only guess what it was doing to Norm.

"It does make sense that one of us would have seen her," he said after I told him. "Especially if she knew Tom. I can't imagine what happened to her when she found out he was dead, and that you were coming in his place. She probably wanted to see you, and Grace wouldn't let her. At least that would be my guess. But keep looking at her logs, Jake. I'll keep Max on the science part of this. You just learn what you can, and we'll see where it takes us, okay?"

I nodded solemnly, watching him ease down the front steps of the house and then make his way across the compound to the outside lab.

I glanced back into the house, making sure Ava and Thomas were still asleep, and I made my way in the opposite direction to the lake I'd never visited while I'd been here. I needed a little time alone to think, and I knew Thomas would find me if he wanted me. Maybe later, we'd go through the obstacle course together.

* * *

**Another chapter, here we are. As always, tell me what you think. Don't hold anything back, and don't worry. More longer chapter are on their way as we unravel the mystery unfolding before us.**

**And I'm not sure what to do with all the other avatar drivers I know should still be on the base, so if you have any ideas, let me know. Keep an open mind, and I will do the same.**

**Until next time, Carry on!  
**


	9. Filling the Empty Cup

**Okay, kiddies. Here we go. New Chapter. **

**Thank you so much to all of you who have added this story to your favorites and alerts, and thank you for the reviews. **

**Disclaimer here. I do not own Avatar. But it is the reason I'm writing this story.**

**Read on!  
**

* * *

_**Filling the Empty Cup**_

It took Norm and Max two days longer than they'd said to find the answers they wanted to find. It was two days more than I expected, two days more than I wanted. But I kept myself occupied as often as I could, looking at Amelia's logs, her messages to Tommy and his messages back to her. Over the four days it took Norm to find what he wanted to find, and for me to go a little stir crazy, I was able to look at almost all of their transmissions to each other, and I couldn't believe what I saw. It looked like the most extreme case of a long-distance relationship I'd ever seen in my life, but the fact that they were almost five light-years apart didn't seem to bother them. And it became obvious three weeks after the first trial injection when Amelia appeared to have miscarried to first trial run of the experiment.

Amelia looked more defeated than I'd seen her in weeks, a lot like I'd looked three months after Quaritch had sent me into Neytiri's camp to find out how to make them relocate. Seeing her like that made me think about how I'd felt that night before I'd gone back to base to report to him, and I wanted more than anything to tell her that everything turned out okay. Ava was beautiful, and she was safe now with me. Tommy did it for me, and in the strangest way.

"_Grace said it'll be a month or two before we can try again," _Amelia had said, crying softly and trying not to look completely broken apart. I knew that feeling too. _"She wants my body to heal before we try again, but I'm still going to have to get my injections every morning. I just don't understand. Everything was going so good, and even Grace said it looked like it would work. I didn't want to say anything, but I woke up, and I think I knew something was wrong. I can't explain it. And it's not in that _I'm-a-woman-I-know-my-body_ way. It's something else. With everything Grace has told me about them, I can't help but think I'm supposed to ask permission for us to do this. But that's crazy, right? That's crazy."_

Hearing her talk like that, I couldn't help thinking about what had happened to me when I'd been "chosen" by The Great Mother the night Neytiri had found me in the forest. Some days, I still wondered exactly what I'd been "chosen" for. But with what I knew about the People, even some of their most basic rituals and ceremonies required at least a bout of praying and connecting with the life around them. Was it possible the land had known about Amelia and what she was there to do? I remembered Neytiri telling me I would need permission to make my first kill. Was this the same thing?

"_You have every right to be disappointed,"_ Tommy told her in his transmission to her the next morning. _"You've been wanting this for so long, and it's only normal. But you're doing a good thing. Your sister would be proud of you that you're there doing something you've always wanted to do. Sometimes, I wonder if Jake is proud of me. When we talk, all I can tell him is how much his life isn't over and that he can do something with his life. I always hope he listens. And I hope you listen to me now. You're going to be okay. And this is just a small bump in the road. If Dr. Augustine can try again in a couple of months, then you'll try again in a couple of months. You just can't quit. You're doing something now that's going to make a difference in someone else's life, and I admire you for that. I get closer to you every day, and when I get there, you'll see. And that's a promise. If you want permission, look at where you are. Dr. Augustine can help you. You want my advice? Plant a tree, for all the trees that have been cut down. Plant more than one. Plant them where they can't be cut down. Gods like gifts."_

I couldn't have made a better suggestion.

* * *

Over the next two and half months, Amelia's attitude improved gradually, and Tommy's transmissions to her seemed to help. She apparently planted dozens of trees in the courtyard of the compound, and a few of them were close enough to the electrified fence for someone to climb over the top and get to the other side. Of course, there was a 50 meter kill-zone directly on the other side, but that didn't seem to bother her. And it looked like Grace admired her for her perseverance. I had to admit I was proud myself.

She and Tommy even celebrated her birthday, which appeared to be October 25th, and even though they had to do it at two different times, it didn't look like that bothered them to talk to each other over the distance. She reported her second trial injection that night, and I could tell she'd gained a new perspective on the event thanks to Grace, especially when she talked about how much Grace was teaching her about the People.

"_Grace is talking about taking me to her school if the second trial is successful,"_ Amelia said in her log, a curious smile crossing her face. _"She says if it works this time that I will have gained a new level of her respect. I guess I've passed most of her tests. I think she expected me to give up before the shuttle got back on its way home. She probably doesn't know that it was her actions that made me determined to do this more than I was when I got here. And everything she's taught me about the People only makes me what to learn more about them. If this works, I'm going to need to know it. For the baby."_

I remembered Grace's school from what she'd told me in the few months I'd known her, thinking of the story she'd told me about how Neytiri's sister had been killed by RDA soldiers after she'd set fire to a bulldozer. Grace's school had been closed down after that, and she hadn't been back until I showed up. That had obviously happened during Amelia's time there, but she hadn't mentioned it yet. I honestly had no frame of reference for what time it was. Back home, Tommy was talking about the last nine months of training he had before his departure time. All I could think about was the fact that he was nine months away from dying. Watching his last nine months of transmissions to Amelia only made me think about how I wish I'd talked to him more than I had.

It made me miss him all over again.

"_Norm keeps asking me about what I'm doing in my room at four in the morning,"_ Tommy told Amelia in his transmission to her the morning after her birthday. _"He says I must have a girl hidden in my habitat somewhere. I guess I'll just let him keep thinking that until we get there so he can meet you. I know he'll like you. Even if he's more into research than he is hands-on stuff, he would love to learn everything he could about something like this. It's all he ever talks about. I think he's more excited than I am, but it's for a completely different reason. I keep wanting to tell Jake about you, but I'm not sure why. Every time I try to talk to him about anything, it's like talking to a guy on Death Row. I keep wondering what it's going to be like when I get there. I know it takes almost six years to get there, but once I get on the ship, I'll be in the home stretch. And no matter what happens, you keep learning everything you can possibly learn. That way we'll be able to talk more when I get to you. And that's a promise."_

Ava seemed oblivious to the time we spent on the base, especially since I took whatever time I could away from her mother's logs to teach her what I could without being in the Clan. Norm also taught her when he wasn't in the lab, and she learned faster than he thought possible. After the first two days, I decided to let him do most of the teaching so she wouldn't get confused by what I was going to teach her when we got back to the Clan. And I'd been able to figure out that she wanted to stay with me since I was most familiar to her. And I realized that I wanted her to stay with me more than I had when I'd found her.

Thomas explored the courtyard every day, finding little animals small enough to crawl through the fences and making messes that Norm had to clean up behind him. Norm tried to look frustrated, but I could tell he liked spending time with Thomas when he wasn't tied down in the lab with Max.

I woke up the fifth morning on the base knowing that I'd spent too much time there. I'd spent most of my time watching Amelia and Tommy. I had no way of talking to Mo'at to find out what was going on in the Clan, and I was actually starting to get comfortable. And I didn't like that.

The night before, I'd watched the last batch of Amelia and Tommy's logs to each other, along with some of Grace's, getting a time-line for Amelia's pregnancy as she carried the baby the way any woman would. She looked so beautiful, like Neytiri had before she'd had Thomas. Amelia talked about how excited she was, and she was a few months along when Grace took her out to her school with the Omaticaya. She actually said how much they liked her and were interested in her baby. Tommy was excited too, suggesting names and thinking about things he was going to do with the baby when he got there, even though he admitted she wouldn't be a baby anymore.

And then something went wrong with Grace's school.

* * *

I'd heard Grace tell me the story once, remembering how insane and cruel it seemed for guys with guns to kill a few kids with bows and arrows for burning down a bulldozer, but watching Grace and Amelia talk about it in two totally different ways made it feel even worse. I could still remember how calm Grace had been, and she was just as calm now, talking about it like she'd expected it one day.

"_Eytukan forbid us from coming back to the village,"_ Grace reported diligently, like someone who'd just been told that a long-lost relative had died, and not a small group of students she'd known and cared about. _"I have to admit that I don't blame him. There was no way I could have predicted what happened, but with the way Sylwanin stopped coming to school and then this, I guess it was inevitable. So from now on, we'll be doing short-distance missions only. And with my two new guys getting ready to leave in the next couple of months, I guess it'll be a few years before we're going to implement any newer ground rules. No one leaves without an escort, and no one stays out passed curfew. And as far as Amelia, I'm moving her outside to the Long-House. With her only a couple of months from being due, her tolerance for the atmosphere is 200% higher than I could've hoped for. She's been spending most of her days outside anyway, albeit isolated from the others. But now, I guess they'll be her protection detail."_ Grace kind of laughed then.

"_Of course, no one else would be able to do it. So I guess it works out for the best. And since we were only given enough injections for her, no one else is going to know why she's able to walk around outside without a mask. She just does. Lisa and Warren will look after her, and since most of the security personnel never come around here, she should stay hidden until I can find a better place her. I'm not sure if I should let her keep talking to Dr. Sully, but it seems to keep her sane, so who knows? Maybe he can look after her when he gets here. I just want to be very clear here. I never thought I would say this, but Amelia's important now. With the things we've learned from her being here, we can cure an entire multitude of incurable diseases. And I don't want anything to happen to her. So I'm going to do everything in my power to keep her safe. If that means exposing her to the Avatar population so she'll be protected if things go sour, then that's what I'll do. And when she gives birth, it'll have to be in Pandoran air so the baby will be able to breath properly. We'll have to set up the Ambient room for the birth, but it'll need to be when only people with the Program are there. None of the security guys need to know about this. I know what they would do if they ever found out about her."_

Grace talking about Amelia made me think about Thomas. When Neytiri had been pregnant, I'd been worried about how people would treat him because I knew he would be different from everyone else. I never once thought of Grace as a mothering type, not even after how she'd treated me after three months at remote camp. But it sounded like she was talking about someone she considered a daughter. It made me even more sad that she was dead. Had Amelia even known about her death?

Amelia was much more emotional about not being able to go back to Grace's school, and she was worried about the children who could have been killed. She grieved for Neytiri's sister, calling her by name and whispering a Na'vi blessing along with asking for forgiveness from the Great Mother. I'd never seen a Human do that before, and it shocked me that she'd learned so much in such a short period of time. Not necessarily as quickly as I'd learned it, but she'd learned it at her own pace and in her own way. She was the first Human since Grace and Norm that I'd seen who honestly understood what was going on around her, and Tommy understood it too when in his transmission to her after she told him about what had happened. Of course he would have. He had trained with Norm, and I guess I should have expected it.

Grace documented every moment of the last four weeks of Amelia's pregnancy, having just about everyone who could keep Amelia in their sights and not just with their eyes. There were early mornings that were spent in the lab doing measurements and scans of the baby, and there were late night counseling sessions that were spent talking and researching for the baby's physiology. It was at that point in the scans that they'd determined the baby's gender. They'd also noticed all of her Na'vi physical traits, including her tail, her queue and the fact that she was twice as big as a Human baby her age in her mother's womb. At one point, Grace had actually been worried that Amelia wouldn't be able to give birth to her and they would have to do surgery. But Amelia had been determined, more determined than any woman in her position should have been.

The last four weeks of her pregnancy witnessed an increase in her logs and her transmissions to Tommy, and him to her, until his last one got to her the day he died. And even though I didn't want to watch it, with it being attached to Amelia's log, I didn't really have much choice. I'd spent the last several months worth of logs watching the two of them falling in love, and it was obvious by Tommy's last transmission to her that he'd been looking forward to seeing her more than working with his Avatar. I'd never seen him like that before, and it made the fact that he was dead feel a million times worse than it had the day I'd been told about it. And that had been almost sixteen years earlier.

"_I'm literally counting down the days here,"_ he told Amelia in his transmission. _"I'm already packing, going through all my stuff here to decide what to take with me. Norm's actually got me pegged now, so every time he comes into my room, he checks under the bed for the girl I'm hiding in here. I think I woke him up last night listening to your last call, but I don't know if he heard anything good. Honestly, I don't care. I'm going to tell him about you tomorrow, and that way, he can relax about me trying to hide members of the opposite sex in my room. I'm going to see Jake just before I leave, and I'm going to tell him too. He needs to know I'm not going to be by myself while I'm there, and I honestly think he'll like knowing about you. He's my brother, after all, and anything I like, he'll like — usually. I know after this week that it'll be a few years before I can talk to you again, so I'm going to go ahead and tell you now so you won't have to wonder for five years if it's true or not. I love you, Amelia Shaw. I love that baby growing inside you, and I can't wait to be there with the two of you. Hopefully when I get there, you'll still have me. _Nga yawne lu oer. Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu."

I watched him rise from his chair in his room and turn off his link, knowing that the next time I'd seen him, he'd been dead, lying inside a flimsy cardboard box at the Crematorium ready for them to burn. I hadn't known anything about the last several months of his life, and not just because he hadn't told me. I hadn't known because I'd been too busy wallowing in my own self-pity. I hadn't known because I hadn't been paying attention. And now, it was the one thing I was regretting more than anything I ever had in my life. Even the one I was living now.

So when I woke up for the fifth morning on base, I knew it was time to go whether Norm was ready for me to go or not. I was done reliving the past. It was time to start making everything right, and I couldn't do that here. I needed guidance, from Mo'at and Neytiri, and there was only one place I was gonna get it.

The last log I watched was Amelia giving birth to Ava, and while she had lived through the experience with Ava, the one thing that had caught my eye was the date-stamp. Ava had been born the day I'd left Earth to come here. She was only sixteen years old. The only thing I didn't know was how long she'd been in the forest, but it didn't matter anymore. I knew what I was gonna teach her now, and when Mo'at said it was okay, I would start teaching Ava what Neytiri had taught me when I'd first come into the Clan. I knew Ava was strong enough, and that settled it for me. And I think that would've made Tommy proud.

* * *

**So you know the drill. Tell me what you think. I know the last few chapters have sort of felt like a trainwreck down memory lane, but I promise it's all for a really good reason.**

**Translations:**

**Nga yawne lu oer. Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu - _I love you. Goodbye for now, and may Eywa be with you. (This came directly from Mr. Paul Frommer, so I guess it should be considered canon.)_**

**I honestly couldn't have asked for the attention this story has gotten, and I'm glad so many people have added it to their favorites and alerts. Don't forget to leave me a review if you can.**

**Also, this story is going to be changing rating to M, just in case, so anyone reading it will know where to find it.  
**


	10. Sixteen Years Ago

**I was thinking earlier about this chapter, and all I could think about was Harry Potter. Strange, I know. But when JK Rowling was writing the first two or three books of her series, she purposefully added things, told things and introduced things that would prove to be vital later in the story. (I'm not saying this is going to be anywhere near _that_ long, but still.) **

**As such, this chapter and another to follow later on will follow suit. The things shown here in this chapter and later on are _very_ important to the story, not just to Jake, but for Ava too. Hope I don't bore you all with yet another trip down memory lane.**

**Also, there are elements of the Avatar script included in here, where you should be able to tell if you've read the script. I claim no ownership to any of it. But I had to start somewhere with it, and it was a decent jumping point.**

**As always, I do not own Avatar. That honor goes to James Cameron. I swear he's the devil incarnate.**

**Thank you for all the reviews, alerts and favorites. I hope this chapter is up to par with the others. Also, we're moving to the M rating category from here on for this chapter and others to follow.  
**

**Read on! (Now that I've held your attention long enough. '-)  
**

* * *

_**Sixteen years ago**_

"I love you, Amelia Shaw," he said into the video link. "I love that baby growing inside you, and I can't wait to be there with the two of you. Hopefully when I get there, you'll still have me. _Nga yawne lu oer. Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu_."

Thomas Sully, though he was only 22 years old, had never been so certain of anything in his young life, and even if probably no one around him would ever understand, he was pretty sure he didn't care. Through an unforeseen set of events, Thomas, or Tommy as his slightly older twin Jake called him, had been given the opportunity to meet Amelia by way of the doctor leading the program he was currently training for. Dr. Grace Augustine, an imposing woman with a no-nonsense attitude and the eyebrows to match, had attached specs on a new experiment involving the creation of a true Hybrid – not a remotely controlled body he would have to link to like the avatar they were now growing for him to use when he arrived on Pandora in just under six years, but an actual living, breathing sentient creature capable of living on its own without any interference at all. He'd been intrigued to say the least.

But when Dr. Augustine had contacted him about the woman participating in the experiment, he hadn't known what to think. It didn't seem like a smart thing to do for a doctor, especially when he was so far away. But she insisted he was just what this young woman needed. She'd apparently been getting restless and depressed about her isolation from the rest of the base, and Tom couldn't think of a better reason to have someone to talk to, so without any real good experience with women, he'd proceeded to sit down and talk to a woman he neither knew nor had ever met. And here he was, over a year later, and he could honestly say it was probably the smartest thing he'd ever done. He was going to have thank Dr. Augustine when he finally met her in person.

Tom could honestly say he'd never been in love before, not like this, and he was pretty sure even Jake wouldn't believe it. After the last time they'd talked, it had been a while since they'd talked. Tom had tried to get through to his brother a lot since his accident, but it was like talking to a brick wall. Jake either didn't want to listen or didn't care anymore, and Tom refused to believe it was the latter, so he was hoping it was the former. Jake just didn't want to listen. One day, he knew his brother wouldn't feel that way, and Tom was going to have make sure it was soon.

He had to admit while he sat in his room at the research center that he never would have guessed he'd be feeling like this now of all times. He figured it was good he was flying toward a girl and not leaving her behind. Amelia was so close to her due date, and Tom knew he wouldn't be able to see baby pictures of her, but hopefully, he'd get to see them when he got to Pandora. Alternatively, he couldn't believe he was finally going. He'd been working toward this for more than three years, and it was finally here.

Norm was excited, probably a little too excited, insisting that they document every last second of their last few days on Earth. Tom could honestly say he would rather already be on the shuttle out of this place, but the company had them on a schedule, so he had to wait.

"Tom," Norm exclaimed, rushing into his room like he was going to find something there that wasn't supposed to be there.

Tom smiled at him. "You're too late, Norm," he said. "She just jumped out the window."

Norm's smile faded, and Tom laughed. "Come on, man, you can't honestly expect me to keep a girl hidden around here, can you?" he asked gesturing to his now barren room. All his important belongings were already packed and ready to go.

Norm said nothing as he moved further into the tiny room. Even though they were both participating in an important program and about to leave on a very long trip, the accommodations they'd been afforded were less than to be desired. But Tom didn't really care. With what Amelia had told him about the compound, they were going to have plenty of room.

That was the good thing about going to an untouched, lush world more than four light-years away. The world here was so crowded now, and it was hard to go anywhere without feeling like the air was getting sucked out of your lungs by the guy next to you. Even if it was all Tom knew, it wasn't something he liked admitting. His home was a corrupt, dying cess pool of filth, and that was partly the reason why he wanted to leave. Everywhere he turned, there was a reminder that his ancestors had done this without caring. They'd polluted the air and water, and they'd stripped away everything beautiful about the world so long ago that even Tom's parents couldn't remember it being better.

It was for that reason that Tom wanted to be with Amelia now more than ever. It wasn't just about the science anymore. She wasn't just a participant in an experiment anymore. She was more beautiful and loving and amazing than any other woman Tom had ever known, and in a week's time, he was going to be on his way to her.

"Are you coming to the mess hall tonight?" Norm asked.

Tom sighed, turning back to his link and turning it off as he rose from his desk. "Nah, I think I'll go out. Not that I'm going to get any fresh air or anything, but just out of this box for a little while. You go on. I'll be back later."

Norm smiled, still looking around. "All right. See you later then."

Norm turned to leave, and Tom spoke before he got out the door. "Hey, Norm," he said.

"Yep?"

For a fleeting moment, Tom thought about telling Norm about Amelia. He thought about telling his friend about her baby and how they were both going to be waiting for him at the compound. But Tom figured he'd just do it then. It wasn't very pressing, and it actually felt kind of good to have something he could keep to himself for right now.

"Never mind," Tom said, shaking his head.

"You sure?"

Tom nodded. "Yeah. You go eat. I'll see you later."

Norm smiled again. " 'Kay. Bye."

He left and Tom moved to his closet, pulling out a jacket and then leaving his room to make his way out of the facility. Maybe he'd find something for Amelia while he was out. With that thought, he checked his wallet to make sure he had cash. It wasn't a usual practice for him, but with the economy being what it was, it never hurt to carry a sure-fire method of purchase. No plastic, no DNA scan, no questions. Jake was always telling him not to carry any cash, but this was a special occasion.

Being out in the open air had been uncomfortable for most of Tom's life. But it had gotten worse as he'd grown. People, Humans, didn't really know their limitations, and at one point, he figured the world beneath their feet had just stopped fighting them. If only a giant meteor would come flying from Heaven. That would make them stop, because most of them would be dead.

On his way out of the facility, Tom was issued a re-breather and told to be back before midnight when they would close and lock the doors for the night. It wasn't an aspect of going outside that he particularly liked, but it was either that or suffocate from all the poison in the air. The air on Pandora was toxic to Humans too, and they had to wear masks like this to go outside. But at least once Tom got into his Avatar, he wouldn't have to use it anymore.

The city the facility was situated inside, San Francisco, wasn't as bad as a lot of other places, as far as crime went, but it was still there, lurking in the shadows ready to spring you for anything valuable you might have on you. That was why Jake was telling him never to carry anything really valuable. If you didn't have anything they wanted, the odds of them leaving you alive were much better than if they found something on you they wanted for themselves.

Market Street was crawling with people near the Embarcadero, and Tom had to weave his way through the mass in a way that ensured he wouldn't lose his exopack. Most of the people here looked like him, cautious, uncomfortable and insanely overprotective of themselves. The shops along the streets all advertised "Fresh Oxygen Inside" meaning they had their own filtration system, and Tom must have walked up and down both sides of Market Street before he found a store where he could find something he wanted. Of all the pawn shops, Tom found one that looked safe, ducking inside through the plastic that covered the entryway like a door. Glass was hardly ever used anymore, a lot like metal. It was too expensive for store-owners to keep up with the economy the way it was these days.

The inside of the pawn shop was relatively deserted aside from the seedy-looking guy behind the counter. Tom tried not to look like he'd never been there before, but it was hard with his neatly trimmed dark hair and fairly innocent looking blue-green eyes. It wasn't something he could hide, and he disliked it very much when people tried to take advantage of him for it.

"Help you with something?" the guy asked him.

"Just looking," Tom replied, moving away from the counter toward a jewelry case on the other side of the store.

He wondered what he could find for Amelia that would stow away easy and not get detected by the sensors scanning his bags on the shuttle. It would have to be small, but he wanted it to be something she wouldn't lose. The compound was a big place, and he was sure things tended to get lost. He also thought about her baby. It'd be almost six years before he saw either of them, and it seemed stupid to buy something for a baby. He honestly couldn't think of what six-year-old little girls liked.

"Looking for something for a special lady?" the guy behind the counter asked, moving around to where Tom had settled.

Tom didn't lie. "Actually, I am."

"All my merchandise is authentic," the guy bolstered. "And I don't even ask for ID. Cash only. So how old is she?"

"Twenty-seven," he said, adding, "I think." He honestly wasn't sure how old Amelia was really.

"Looks like she means a lot to you," the guy said. He opened the case, extracting a long box and opening it to show Tom a sterling silver chain with a small silver heart and a single gemstone inside the heart. "This is what you need."

Tom looked at the necklace for a long time, thinking about Amelia and wondering what she would think when he showed up with something like this. Maybe that would make up for the six years he wouldn't be able to talk to her. He looked at the guy in front of him.

"Do you have anything for a little girl?" he asked. "About six."

It seemed like a strange request, but Tom figured it was only fair to bring something for Amelia's daughter. What had she said she was going to name her? Ava?

The guy behind the counter moved to another case, opening it up and looking inside for a moment before he pulled out a smaller silver chain with a silver butterfly along with the same color gemstone in one wing. He showed the necklace to Tom, speaking softly.

"Little girls love butterflies, don't they?" he asked.

"I guess so," Tom said with a smile. "How much?"

"Normally, metal like this is too expensive to manufacture, but I happen to have a lot of pieces left over from before they restricted the refinery. So they're all pretty valuable. I'd have to charge for the metal and the stones, but you look like a guy with more than one special person in your life."

Tom chuckled, still looking at the heart and the butterfly. "You have no idea," he commented.

"So I'll take down the price on both pieces. Just for you."

Tom couldn't believe his luck, agreeing to the man's terms and following him around to the other side of the store to finish his purchase. Both necklaces took most of Tom's cash, but he was satisfied with what he'd found. He would find a couple of good hiding places in his bag to take it on the shuttle with him, and surely after he was safely placed inside his cryo-chamber, they wouldn't think to look through his stuff before getting on their way to Pandora.

The air outside felt cleaner than it had in months, maybe years, when Tom stepped out of the store with his purchases tucked safely inside his jacket. Water off the coast sometimes helped filter in a little more oxygen even if it was mixed with salt and gave the air a bitter taste. But Tom could breathe when he stepped outside, so he stowed his mask, strapping on his re-breather pack before making his way back up the street.

He checked his watch, noting that it was only 2200 hours, and he had plenty of time to get back. Maybe he could even talk to Norm when he got back. Norm was bound to find these before they left, and it was inevitable that he'd be curious. Tom had to admit that if things were reversed, he'd be curious too. For a second, Tom pulled out the necklace he'd bought for Ava and looked at it.

The street just outside the pawn shop was slightly more deserted than it had been before he'd gone inside, and with a distinct glance to his left and then his right, Tom noted a group of women hurrying off in the opposite direction before he turned down the street away from the Market. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, while still holding Ava's necklace, and tucked his chin to his chest, just the way Jake had said to keep anyone from noticing his different stature from most of the other people who came here. It probably wasn't the greatest place to come now that he thought of it. But he was less than half a mile from the facility, and surely, he could make it there safely.

Halfway up the street and less than 100 meters from the corner that would see him closer to the realm of civilization he was accustomed to, Tom heard another set of footsteps fall in behind him, and he fought the urge to turn his head. One of the things Jake always told him was to keep his head down. If they couldn't scare him, then they probably wouldn't bother. And then the footsteps sped up, and before Tom could yell for another person, the person behind him caught up to him.

"Give me your wallet!" the hooded assailant demanded, shoving a shiny, hard object Tom realized was a gun in his face.

_Give 'em what they want_, Jake always said. _Don't fight 'em. It ain't worth it if you end up dead._

Quickly, Tom reached into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and handing it over. The gun waved dangerously close to his head as his attacker opened the wallet and discovered Tom's lack of money.

Then he turned his gun back to the middle of Tom's forehead. "Where's the rest of it?" he growled.

"I don't have any more," Tom exclaimed, holding his hands out and open so the guy would see he didn't have anything else he could give up. Forget about the jewelry cases he had on him. Those were non-negotiable.

"Get on your knees!" he ordered, pulling back the hammer on the gun as his hand shook wildly.

Tom did as he was told, still holding his hands up, and the guy proceeded to frisk him. It only took him a few seconds to find the two cases in Tom's pockets, and Tom sighed heavily as the guy kicked him in the back of the legs.

"You lying sack of shit!" he shrieked, pressing the end of his gun at Tom's forehead.

"Please," Tom whispered. "Listen. I really don't have anything else! Just take all of it and go! Please."

Suddenly, he didn't care about the jewelry anymore. He didn't care that he'd just spent more money on the two of them than he had on anything in over a year. It was just metal, and it didn't really matter that someone else had it. Suddenly, all he cared about was seeing Amelia. All he cared about was seeing Ava for the first time. He couldn't let anything or anyone get in the way of that.

His attacker only seemed to care about the fact that Tom had lied about having more than money on him.

"Give me your exopack," the guy demanded.

Quickly, Tom pulled it off and handed it over. With any luck, he'd been able to duck into a building and get a breath since he was starting to get light-headed as it was.

"Please," he whispered again. "That's everything I got on me. You can have it. Please."

For several fleeting seconds, it looked like the guy was going to let him go as he stood up straight and pocketed everything he'd taken from Tom. Light-headed or not, at least he'd be alive. Then the guy backed away from him, getting about ten or fifteen feet away and aiming the gun at Tom again.

"Wait, please!"

He squeezed the trigger instantly, releasing the chambered bullet and sending it slicing through the thick air to hit Tom in his gut, just below his rib cage and puncturing his intestines. With little else, the guy ran off, leaving Tom on the sidewalk as he began bleeding out immediately. Sharp, immediate pain spread across Tom's abdomen, and with the air being so thick, he had trouble getting a breath.

"Help," he whispered, but he knew no one could hear him.

He rose to his feet less than 100 meters from the next street, and as his vision began to blur, he could see two or three people coming toward him. He didn't know if they were coming to help him or knock him down. He fell to the sidewalk again within only a few meters, pressing his hand to his wound and then feeling two sets of hands trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

"Hey, man, are you okay?" a distant, distorted voice pleaded.

Tom couldn't even catch his breath. He couldn't focus on any of the lights around him, and with one last attempt, he exhaled and everything went black.

_Amelia, I love you._

* * *

Darkness filled her eyes as they flew open from the most horrible dream she'd ever had in her life, and she rose in bed with difficulty as her enormous belly prevented her from sitting all the way up these days. Her eyes adjusted, and she remembered she was outside, where she'd been the last six or seven weeks of her pregnancy. And then she remembered she was alone, since all of the nine-foot-tall bodies around her were unoccupied at the moment.

One of the stranger things about being out here now was that she technically wasn't alone, but if she woke up in the middle of the night, she was very alone. The bodies around her never moved when she touched them, and they never woke when she yelled at them. It was actually sometimes funny, since she could paint faces on them and not have them stop her.

But this was different. She had to worst feeling that something was wrong. Nothing was wrong with her. She and her daughter were both healthy as far as Grace could tell, and she was less than a week from her due date. That was putting it mildly since Grace couldn't really tell her how long she was supposed to carry her baby. But the scans they were doing were telling them everything was going perfectly. She guessed the trees had worked.

Slowly, she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stepped down to the floor. Her bed was the only one of its size out here, and for that, it was situated just inside the locked doors. Grace had insisted this so she could always get out if she needed to. The only thing about it now was that she was too huge to get through the space in the doors. She had to use a crank to unlock the magnetic lock that was four feet above her head.

Since it was the middle of the night, the only person she expected to be up and alert was Grace, and she was right in thinking that since the lab was almost completely dark when she arrived there still wearing her night gown and rubber shoes. Grace was always telling her that just because she could breathe outside, it didn't mean she was as strong as the others out there with her, and the blisters and scrapes on her feet were proof enough of that.

Grace was sitting at her microscope when she stepped into the lab, and the older woman who had become like a mother to her looked up from her samples.

"Amelia, it's passed oh-two-hundred," she said softly. "You shouldn't be awake."

"Something's wrong, Grace," Amelia gushed, sitting next to Grace. "I'm – I don't know what, but I just know. Have you heard anything from the shuttle yet? It's supposed to leave soon, isn't it?"

Grace sat back, easily overwhelmed by the onslaught of questions, and she turned her tired brown eyes to Amelia slowly. "I think it's leaving within the week," she confirmed, "but I haven't heard anything yet. As of yesterday morning, everything was on schedule. You're reacting to nothing. Everything's okay back home. I promise. Now, please go back to bed. You need all your rest."

Amelia remained undeterred. "I can't," she pleaded, fidgeting steadily. "I don't know why, but I can't. I know something's wrong. Can I just stay in here with you until Lisa wakes up? Please."

Grace sighed softly, glancing around at the empty lab and then smiling at Amelia. "Okay. She'll probably be here in a few hours. You can stay here until then," Grace decided, laying her hand over Amelia's cheek and then returning to her microscope.

Lisa, one of the sixteen or seventeen avatar drivers in the compound, came wandering into the lab just after 0500, still dressed in her own bed attire and rubbing her eyes as she carried a cup of coffee. Amelia had gotten used to her and Warren the last few months, in their Human bodies and their avatar bodies, and by now, there were a few things she expected.

Lisa was about ten years older than Amelia, even if she didn't count the six years she'd spent in cryo to get to Pandora. With shoulder-length blond hair and green eyes, Lisa was also one of the only blond women on base, but she never acted like it. She was just about as serious as Grace, even if she did show her feminine side a little more than Grace did. Lisa's avatar, which was usually laid down next to Amelia in the Long-House outside, was one of the more lithe specimens even if most of the avatars were all muscular and could pick Amelia up with enough ease to carry her around for a couple of hours. Warren did that all the time.

Warren was the opposite of Lisa, in appearance and mannerisms. While she was petite like Amelia, he was tall, over six feet, and he had dark blond hair and blue-grey eyes that he kept in check at all times. When Amelia had first met him, she thought he was some military officer turned scientist even if that notion seemed ridiculous to her. But in reality, his father had been a general in the militia back on Earth, and there had been a time in Warren's life when he'd been expected to follow in his father's footsteps. He liked to call this his "rebellious phase" even if it had lasted most of his adult life. He was also a good eight to ten years older than Amelia — and that was with the six years of cryosleep. In a strange way, they'd both become like her family here, even if Grace made it very clear to them that she wasn't a pet or a toy.

When Lisa came strolling into the lab and saw Amelia at Grace's side, it seemed to wake her up the rest of the way.

"Amelia, honey, what are you up for?" she asked like Grace had. "You need your rest."

"She had a bad dream," Grace said softly from her microscope as she'd gone back to her work within the last few hours.

"It wasn't a dream," Amelia said seriously, allowing Lisa to pull her to her feet. "Something's wrong. I don't know what, but I just know. When do the morning packets come in from the space dock?"

Lisa looked at Grace, who replied in her usual monotone voice.

"Oh-eight-hundred," she told them. Then she looked at Amelia. "And you can't stay here passed oh-six-hundred. Keeping you hidden from Selfridge is getting difficult enough. If anything's really wrong, I'll come tell you. Okay?"

Amelia sighed softly, remembering the feeling she'd had when she woke, and even though a few hours had gone by, the feeling was still strong. She couldn't explain it, and she couldn't dismiss it. She knew she wouldn't be getting Tom's transmission until the morning packets came in, and that wouldn't be for a few more hours, but this feeling was so strong that even his transmission probably wouldn't make it go away. This was the first time since she'd started talking to him that she really disliked him being so far away. If she could talk to him and tell him about this, she'd know what to do. He never failed to give her sound advice, and the baby growing inside her was proof enough of that.

"Come on, sweetie," Lisa said taking Amelia's hand and pulling her toward the link room. "It'll be morning soon."

Amelia didn't argue, allowing Lisa to guide her as they entered the dim link room. It was empty except for the two of them, and Lisa initialized the link bed she usually used before she returned to her coffee and looked at Amelia.

"Are you tired at all?" Lisa asked her.

Even though she was exhausted, Amelia lied. "I'm fine. I just can't dismiss this. Not now and not where I am. I know too much about this place for it to not affect the way I feel, and right now, it's got my mind in overdrive. I didn't think that was possible without being physically connected to the land."

Lisa reached out, laying her hand over Amelia's belly. "But you are connected to the land, honey," she said softly. "After everything you've done for this baby, I wouldn't be surprised if you're just as connected to this place as anyone else who was born here. And your little girl is going to be the same way. Everything's going to be okay. Just try to focus on the baby, and it'll all work out. All right?"

Amelia inhaled as deep as she could, feeling the baby's legs and hands pressing against the inside of her abdomen, and she absently rubbed her hands over her belly. Her little girl responded, wooshing around from one direction to the other, and Amelia had to work to steady herself on her feet.

"You okay?" Lisa asked, reaching for her arm to help her.

"I'm okay," Amelia lied.

"Come on," Lisa said. "You can help me get into the link bed, and then I want you on your way outside. Selfridge is due to make a visit today, and we're trying to keep him from knowing about you. And I'm pretty sure he'd notice a very pregnant woman walking around who shouldn't even be walking around."

They left the controls running, moving around to the link bed Lisa used as it set open from her last link.

"I usually eat breakfast before I do this," Lisa commented as she climbed onto the bed and then situated herself inside.

Amelia hit the controls beside the bed the way she'd been doing since Grace had allowed her a few more responsibilities in the lab, and Lisa moved the fiber-optic plate in place before she looked at Amelia.

"You go outside," Lisa told her. "Grace and Warren will be in here after a little while, and so will Max. We _really_ don't need Max to know you're here doing that, especially when you're not trained to do it."

Amelia initialized the last control, holding her belly and watching Lisa close the lid on herself. She watched the bed pull back into the scanner, remaining still for only a minute before she moved back into the lab where Grace was still working.

"I'm going back outside upon instruction," she told Grace. "But the minute you get the packet in, I want you to send it to me. I guess I'll watch it out there."

Grace barely moved her head. "Okay."

Through a series of doors that led back into the courtyard, Amelia made her way back to the Long-House where Lisa's avatar was currently coming to life. The sky was still deep blue, but with Polyphemus overhead, it wasn't totally dark. Amelia could see the ground beneath her feet as she walked across the courtyard, and Lisa was waiting by the open doors when she made it there.

"Come on, honey," Lisa said, her gold eyes sympathetic as she took Amelia in her arms. "Let's do our scans, and then you can lay back down."

Amelia didn't argue this time.

* * *

Across the bay from San Francisco was the most expensive and most overrun city, and that was where Jake Sully lived in a crappy apartment afforded to him by the government. Forget that he'd served his country and given his life in the worst conflict the world had seen in a century. Forget that said conflict had led to him being paralyzed from the waist down by a stray bullet meant for the son-of-a-bitch that had him pinned to the side of a tank the size of a bulldozer. Forget that he'd spent over a year in a damn V.A. hospital, and all you had was a battle-hardened, cynical, depressed ex-Marine with a chip on his shoulder the size of the Moon. He was only 22.

Though he hardly ever let anyone see it, Jake knew there were things he wasn't capable of, but he still tried. He knew he couldn't walk, but he could still fight, and whenever someone needed it, he was always there. It was the exact opposite of what he told his brother Tommy. In Jake's weathered blue-green eyes, Tommy was the more valuable of the two of them, and no matter what happened to Jake, he knew Tommy was going places.

It had been over a month since Jake had really talked to Tommy, but it didn't really matter. Jake wasn't going anywhere. At least not outside the five block radius of his shitty apartment. Not a lot of people paid Jake a lot of attention, and he liked it that way. There was no reason he should warrant anymore grief than anyone else.

Jake thought about Tommy as he sat in wheel chair on the curb waiting for the light to change. The people around him only paid him enough attention to keep a good distance from him like they might catch whatever he had. A good dose of decency and self-respect maybe, but the only ailment Jake really had was the inability to look them in the eye. But that didn't bother him. He thought about whatever Tommy might be doing in that fancy research facility he'd been living in the last few years. He wondered if he could maybe call his brother tonight.

The light turned, and Jake pushed forward in the crowd to get to other side of the intersection. The air here was thicker than most places, and a lot of people around him were wearing exopacks to filter out the toxins. But Jake could handle it. He wasn't going to let anything slow him down. Other than himself. They could fix his spinal injury, but only if he had the money. The only money Jake had were vet benefits, and it wasn't even a fourth of the money he'd need to afford an operation like that. He was lucky they'd given him his apartment, like that was the best they could do for a man who'd literally given his legs to defend his country.

Jake had become a Marine for the hardship, to be hammered on the anvil of life. He'd told himself he could pass any test a man could pass. Of course he hadn't figured on this, even if it was the hand he'd been dealt, and he wasn't going to have any regrets now. On one hand, Jake had thought battle was the place where real men found out what they were made of and if they were capable of passing any test placed on them, they did it without question. On the other hand, Jake was never going to be able to run down the street after a creep trying to steal a woman's purse. He was never going to be able to flirt with a woman sitting at a bar or walk her home if she took pity on him. He was never going to be able to dress himself without someone helping him. He tried though. He tried every morning when he woke up and every night before he went out.

Sitting in his apartment before one of those nights out, he couldn't help thinking his life was supposed to be better. But maybe this was the trade-off. So Tommy could accomplish something, Jake had to take the sacrifice. It didn't stop him from wanting something better or just different. It didn't stop him from thinking about what his life could have been. When he'd been lying in the VA hospital with a big hole blown through the middle of his life, he'd started having these dreams of flying. He'd been free. Sooner of later though, you always have to wake up.

He stared at his legs a lot, thinking of how they'd looked before and how they looked now. They were an ugly pale white color and completely atrophied. They were totally useless. In contrast and probably in protest to not being able to use his legs, Jake's arms were the exact opposite. Slightly tanned and powerfully muscled, they were also tattooed with a tribal dragon on his right shoulder that had looked cool and _"Born Loser"_ etched on his left arm. It did not bear any meaning to his life now, especially since he'd had it for longer than he'd been like this.

Getting dressed was a chore, causing him more frustration than the activity was worth, but it wasn't like he could go out in nothing. The police frowned on that. And he hadn't had his hair cut in nearly six months, so it was long enough to hang in his eyes. But Jake tried to make himself presentable, tying his shoes to cover feet he couldn't even feel before he grabbed his jacket to leave his tiny apartment. He figured if he was gonna go out, he might as well go somewhere nobody would look at him funny.

The bar Jake went to that night wasn't some place you took your mother, but other guys like him — guys the government had forgotten about came here too, so Jake didn't feel so out of place. And he didn't act like he was incapable of doing anything but taking people's sympathy. Jake didn't want pity. He knew the world was a cold place to live, unforgiving and a hard-ass bitch. He knew he was on the wrong planet to want a fair deal. It was a harsh reality he'd learned a very long time ago. _The strong prey on the weak. And nobody does a damn thing._

Through the crowd, Jake saw a man at the bar and the woman with him. The guy looked like an asshole, and he proved his meddle, slapping the woman hard. She immediately retreated from him, obviously embarrassed and hurt, but the people around them did nothing. Jake wasn't like most of those people, and he wasn't the guy who didn't do something about that kind of action — especially when he knew it was wrong.

Without really thinking about what he was going to do, Jake moved through the crowd, gripping the wheels that carried him until he was behind the man who'd hit the woman at the bar. No one noticed him. No one ever did. Most people looked over him, and Jake was okay with that. He had unique ways of making his presence known, just the way he did when he reached out and grabbed the stool the asshole was sitting on and yanked it out from under him. And he followed the guy as he fell to the floor with a loud crash, hurling himself from his chair and landing on top of the asshole. He pulled his fist back, clocking the guy in his jaw and then repeating the action several times until two large, calloused hands grabbed his arms.

The hands belonging to the bouncer of the bar dragged Jake out of the bar unceremoniously, tossing him into the street and leaving him there sprawled out on the wet pavement as it began raining. A couple of seconds later, his wheelchair flew out the door, clanging around the alley and falling less than a meter from Jake's head near the trash.

"I hope you know you just lost a customer!" Jake shouted, panting hard as he struggled to get up on his elbow. He wasn't finished with that asshole. Hell, he'd take the bouncer too if he could. He collapsed after a minute, inhaling deep as he laid on the cold pavement. "Candy ass bitch," he muttered.

To hell with them all. Here he was, lying on the cold, wet ground, unable to get up, and all he cared about was having something, just one thing in his pitiful life worth fighting for.

He stared at the sky above him, since he didn't really have anything better to do, watching the rain hit him and feeling empty for the first time in a long time. He was sure he would lay there for a few hours when these two tall shapes came up on him, casting long shadows as they revealed themselves to be two men in matching suits and overcoats.

"Jake Sully?" the one on the right asked.

"Step off, man," Jake protested. "You're killin' my good mood."

"It's about your brother," the one on the left told him.

"Tommy?" Jake whispered, confused, worried and curious all at once.

Jake didn't know what all this was about, two suits finding him on a random city street alley and telling him something had happened to his brother, but the ride they took to the main Crematorium told Jake that something was severely wrong. He had no frame of reference for this trip, but when they showed him to a large, cold room filled with furnaces, coffins and storage containers, Jake knew this was bad.

The last thing he ever expected when they showed him a six foot long box was the body of his dead twin brother lying inside. Jake didn't know how he was supposed to feel. His brother was dead. He didn't understand. Tommy was supposed to be going places. He was supposed to make something of his life. He wasn't supposed to be dead. It wasn't right.

"Jesus, Tommy," Jake heard himself whisper, but he wasn't really there. It was like that was him in that box, and it should've been Tommy looking at him. God knew his life had been over a long time ago. What kind of God allowed something like this to happen?

The two suits with Jake barely gave him enough time to process what he was thinking or feeling.

"How did this happen?" Jake demanded softly, staring at Tommy's face and silently hoping this was all some sick joke.

"We're not sure," one of them said. "Witnesses said it was a mugging. They heard a gunshot and found your brother struggling."

Jake huffed. "Damn it, Tommy," he breathed. "You're never supposed to fight 'em. You're worth more than that, you stupid son of bitch."

"Mr. Sully," the other suit said, his voice soft if not compassionate. "Your brother represented a considerable investment to RDA. We'd like to talk to you about taking over his contract. Since your genome is identical to his, you could step into his shoes. So to speak."

Jake said nothing as he watched the attendant overseeing everything close the lid on his brother's dead body, sealing it with tape like it was a package being thrown in the garbage. Jake lifted harsh eyes to the man, connecting with him for only a few seconds and practically shooting fire at him. For those few seconds, the attendant looked scared, but he proceeded nonetheless, rolling the sealed box into the furnace.

"It'll be a fresh start," the first suit said to Jake, as the cover to the furnace was closed. "On a new world. And the pay is good."

"Very good," the second suit added, a glib smile across his face like they were both offering Jake the lottery.

Jake didn't feel lucky, not even a little, especially when he watched the attendant turn on the furnace with Tommy's body inside.

This wasn't right. Tommy was the scientist, not Jake. He was the one who wanted to shot light-years out in space to find the answers to all his deep, burning questions about his life, about Jake's life, about everything. Jake taking his place was just wrong, unfair, insensitive. Money or no money. He was just another dumb grunt who was going someplace he was gonna regret.

It should have been Tommy. _One life ends, another begins._

* * *

Amelia was outside with Warren harvesting a batch of fruit for the baby when she looked up and saw Lori coming out of the lab hatch with a stack of pads in her arms. She almost dropped the basket in her arms, her feet moving before she could register the fact that she was standing next to a nine-and-a-half-foot tall blue man in track shoes. She almost knocked him over.

"Amy, come on!" Warren exclaimed, but she barely noticed his annoyance as she shoved the basket up at him and made her way toward the airlock Lori was coming out of.

For a minute, everything slowed down. Amelia felt like she was running through molasses. And then Warren realized where she was going, and he followed her.

"Amy, be careful," he pleaded, catching up to her and halting her advance. "Hey," he said, holding her against him. "She'll be here in a minute."

Amelia sighed heavily, shutting her eyes and remembering her dream as Lori made her way across the court yard. She couldn't wait any longer for the bad news she knew was coming, and even with Warren's immense hands holding her firmly, he was barely holding her still.

"Calm down," Warren begged. "It's okay."

"No," Amelia said. "It's not."

It seemed like an eternity from the moment she saw Lori to the instant she stepped in front of Amelia and Warren as they waited. She sorted through the pads, extracting one and then handing it to Amelia.

"This one's for you," she said, her tone somber and flat. "But Grace needs to see you when you finish."

"Why?" Amelia asked frantically.

"What's happened?" Warren asked.

Lori lifted her eyes to his, craning her neck upward but not changing her expression.

Warren didn't say anything, taking Amelia's shoulders and turning her back to the house to walk her inside where her bed was waiting. Lisa was off somewhere in the court yard looking after trees and a new habitat Grace had been telling her to construct, so Warren was the one who sat with Amelia while she watched Tom's latest transmission.

" . . . _I know after this week that it'll be a few years before I can talk to you again, so I'm going to go ahead and tell you now so you won't have to wonder for five years if it's true or not. I love you, Amelia Shaw. I love that baby growing inside you, and I can't wait to be there with the two of you. Hopefully when I get there, you'll still have me. _Nga yawne lu oer. Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu."

Tom's last words in the transmission brought tears to Amelia's eyes in a way nothing had since Grace had told her she was going to have her baby, but she couldn't trust his words until she knew for sure that he was okay. And the fact that even Warren knew something was wrong wasn't a good sign. Warren was one of the most laid back guys in the compound, and if he was worried, then it was bad.

"He's a nice guy," Warren said as he sat over Amelia's bed with her. "I like him. It'll be nice meeting him when he gets here."

Amelia wiped the tears in her eyes away, turning off the transmission and putting the pad away. "Something's wrong," she said. "If everything was okay, then Grace wouldn't want to see me. I don't know how I know. I just know something isn't right."

"Maybe she just wants to talk to you about next week," he said, reminding her of her due date.

Amelia glanced at him, but she said nothing.

After another minute, he stood up. "Come on. I'll put this guy back to bed, and then I'll be inside with you."

He pulled her to her feet, ushering her back outside and nudging her on to the airlock while he laid his avatar back down for the time being.

The walk from the long-house to the outer door felt like a 100 kilometers, and it took Amelia forever to get there. She didn't want to go see Grace. If she didn't see Grace, she wouldn't get bad news. If she didn't get bad news, she could pretend everything was going to be okay.

But something was very wrong, and it wasn't just because she could feel it in her gut, despite the large baby pressing on it. Grace was going to talk to her about Tom's transmission. And Amelia already knew she wasn't going to like it. And there was nothing she could do about it.

Warren was waiting for Amelia inside the inner airlock, his hair unkempt and two days worth of stubble growing over his angular jaw as he lifted his tired eyes to her face. He pulled her away from the airlock to the lab where Grace was currently talking to Lori with a few pads in front of them. Most everyone else was busy doing other things, and when the two women saw Amelia with Warren, they stopped talking. Grace beckoned them forward, and Warren sat Amelia down gently, leaning against the table beside her as Grace spoke.

"I don't, uh, really know how to say this," Grace began, glancing at Lori and then Warren. "And I really wish I didn't have to say it. But this is my program, and when something like this happens, they have to make sure I'm aware of it. Even if it doesn't really affect anything for several years. I had Lori give you Dr. Sully's transmission so it would be separated from the main packet, but I also did it so you wouldn't know this without me telling you first."

"Grace," Warren said. "What's happened?"

She bowed her head, inhaling deeply and then lifting her stoic brown eyes to Amelia's pleading blue eyes. "Along with the transmission from Dr. Sully, I also received a transmission from the space dock about him. It appears that he was killed in a mugging about twenty-four hours ago."

Amelia tried not react, wringing her hands together so tight her knuckles were white. "No," she whispered.

"I'm sorry, Amelia," Grace whispered, reaching for Amelia's hand. "I really am very sorry."

"No," Amelia repeated. "A mugger killed him?" she exclaimed. "Why?"

"I don't know," Grace said shaking her head. "But that isn't all they sent. Apparently, they don't think him dying is enough to scratch his slot on the shuttle. They've offered his slot to his twin brother, Jake. Like that makes it better. He's some ex-military idiot. Like I need one of those in my lab."

"How is that possible?" Warren asked softly, now holding Amelia's other hand tightly.

Grace looked at him. "Well, apparently, Jake is Dr. Sully's identical twin, so their genetic markers are, well, identical. The guys back home are saying it will enable him to link with his brother's avatar. And there isn't anything I can do about it. I can't tell them to leave him there. They've already started preparing him for the shuttle. He'll be here with Dr. Spellman when the shuttle gets here. In six years." Grace paused, leaning closer to Amelia. "Amelia, I need you stay calm," she pleaded. "I know Dr. Sully was important to you. And I know you weren't expecting this. I wasn't expecting this. But I really need you to not overreact to this. Please. I know our scans are telling us that she's okay, but I don't want anything to go wrong. He wouldn't want you to hurt yourself because something happened to him."

Amelia stayed quiet as Grace spoke, only lifting her eyes when Grace was finished. "No, you don't know," she said coldly. "Because you didn't even know him."

She stood up promptly, meaning to leave the room before she completely lost it the way she wanted to without anyone seeing that she was in pain — both in her heart and in her body.

"Amy!" Warren exclaimed.

He tried to stop her, but she refused to be halted this time, making it to the airlock before Warren could grab her and then stepping outside into the open air in minutes. She walked without any purpose, wanting to remain on her feet for as long as possible even as the cramping in her abdomen began to move toward her pelvis the way Grace said it would. But it wasn't time. And Amelia knew that.

She got a good 10 meters from the door before she dropped to her knees, grasping onto her abdomen and inhaling deeply as the airlock opened and allowed Warren out with his exopack secured to his face.

"Amy," he yelled, hurrying to her side and kneeling beside her. "Amy, come on!"

"Leave me alone," she grit out with her teeth clenched together. She groaned softly, leaning over slightly.

"But you're not ready," he told her. "Please. Listen, I know you're hurting. I know you loved him. But he wouldn't want you or the baby to get hurt. You should know that now even if you hadn't seen his last transmit. Come on, let's get you inside."

Amelia conceded, allowing Warren to lift her in his arms and carry her back to the airlock. He didn't put her down until they were back in the lab where Lori and Grace were waiting in the ambient room as the rest of the lab disappeared behind the blinds as they descended quickly.

"What happened?" Grace asked from behind her mask as Warren laid Amelia on one of the gurneys.

"I think she's cramping," he said frantically, sitting up on the gurney with her. "But she's not ready."

"No, she's not," Grace said, retrieving a syringe from the cart near the wall. "Amelia, you need to calm down. We don't need this baby to come too soon."

"Amy, come on," Warren whispered. "It's gonna be okay. You're not ready."

Grace stepped up to Amelia's side, swiping her arm with an alcohol swab. "I'm going to give you something to stop the cramping, but you need to calm down. We didn't just spend the last ten months doing this for you to falter ten yards from the finish line."

Amelia didn't want to listen to any of them. She didn't want to stop what was coming. Tom had been dead for almost a day, and she'd known it. And there hadn't been anything she could do to stop it. It didn't matter whether she had the baby now or in a week. At least not to her. But she hated to admit they were right. She wasn't ready for this now, and neither was her body or the baby. Reluctantly, Amelia inhaled as deep as she could as Grace injected her with the most irritating substance she'd ever felt in the last several months of her life. As the drug lessened her pain, Warren held her tighter, rubbing the small of her back, and she inhaled again.

Grace glanced at Lori, and the two women communicated silently before Grace looked at Amelia.

"That's good. Just keep breathing. I know this isn't easy on you, but just keep breathing."

Grace sat on the gurney at Amelia's feet, reaching for her face and then leaning closer until their foreheads were touching. "It's going to be okay," Grace whispered. "I promise. You're going to be okay. I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Okay?"

Amelia inhaled deeply, exhaling raggedly as she lost most of the composure she'd been working to hold onto, and she began to cry harder than she ever had in her entire life. Harder than she had when her sister had died. Harder than she had when her parents had died. She felt more alone than she ever had before, even with two of the most important people in her life sitting with her. And they never left her.

The drugs made Amelia drowsy, and while Lori took the equipment back into the main part of the lab, Grace and Warren stayed with Amelia until she was asleep. He carried her outside to the long-house where Lisa was waiting by the doors, and they sat with her while she slept.

* * *

**There. That wasn't too painful, now was it? Long Chapter this time!  
**

**It was at a certain point in the story when I realized something about Amelia and Tom's interaction that would need to be shown, and having Jake get to the end of their transmissions to each other seemed like a good spot.**

**Again, I took elements from the script for Jake's part, and I tried to make it feel like a story, and not just lines from the script. Hope I did a good job.**

**Translations:**

**_Nga yawne lu oer. Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu -_** ******I love you. Goodbye for now, and may Eywa be with you. (This came directly from Mr. Paul Frommer, so I guess it should be considered canon.)**

**As always, thank you for your reviews, alerts and favorites. You're all too kind. ;-)  
**


	11. Time in A bottle

**New chapter. Back to the present. Long chapter this time, and hopefully up to par with the rest of the story.**

**Disclaimer here. I do not own Avatar. Although there are a few elements of the movie here. **

**We're not quite in the thick of Ava's training here, but it's coming up, and I'm working on it as we speak, um, type.**

**Thanks for the alerts, reviews and favorites. I totally love all of them!**

**Read on!**

* * *

_**Time in a Bottle**_

"What do you mean, you're leaving?" Norm asked less than a second after I told him. "We're almost done, and there's not supposed to be any rush. Right?"

I was currently watching Thomas and Ava running through the obstacle course. It was barely mid-morning, and I knew I'd already lingered too long. I was really wishing I'd left before any of them were awake. I didn't know if I could've gotten away with the two of them myself, but now I was thinking I should have at least tried.

"We've been here for six days," I told Norm. "I wasn't supposed to be gone this long, and I know enough. You can keep looking, but I have to go."

"But you don't have to go," Norm said while we were both sitting in the outdoor lab. He'd been splitting his time between working in the lab and the courtyard, and I knew he was enjoying teaching Ava everything he could get her to learn.

But it was time for us to leave, and nothing Norm said was gonna change my mind.

"Yes," I told him. "I do have to go."

I didn't give him another chance to argue, rising from where I was sitting and moving out into the courtyard. "Thomas," I beckoned, commanding my son's attention and watching him and Ava turn to me. "Ava. Come with me. We're leaving."

Norm followed me. "Jake, wait," he pleaded. "What are you going to do when you get back? You know Mo'at won't agree to teach Ava. You know she won't be accepted. No one there will want her there like you will."

"You're wrong," I told him, remembering Eyreal and hoping her desire to be near Ava hadn't faded over the last several days.

"Jake, she's not a pet," he shouted, and I stopped, turning to face him.

"She's not a lab experiment," I shot back, glaring as Thomas and Ava arrived at where we were standing.

He retreated, holding his hands up in front of him. "I didn't mean it like that," he swore. "But at least I've accepted her the way she is. You know no one in the Clan will do that. They'll either want her to change, or they'll want her to go away. And they'll only ever question you for bringing her there."

I inhaled as deep as I could, looking at Ava and knowing she could understand most of what he was saying. I looked at Thomas for a minute, and then I looked at Norm. "I can't stay here," I told him. "I don't belong here anymore. And neither does she. She hasn't belonged here since she got lost out there, and I may not know how long she was out there, but I found her. And I'm going to take care of her. For Tommy and her mother. Because even if I saved Neytiri and her people, I caused this. And I have to make it right. This is the only way I know how to do that. And nothing you say is gonna stop me. So if you really want to help me, you'll take us back."

Norm looked at Ava as she stood beside me grasping onto my arm and holding my hand. I could tell he didn't want to give in, but I wasn't giving him much choice. And he also knew the only way I gonna get back to the Clan as fast as I wanted was if he took me. Either that, or I was gonna jump the fence since I knew it wasn't electrified. I figured I could jump clear of the kill-zone, but I knew Thomas and Ava probably wouldn't be so lucky. Norm knew that too.

He thought about the options I was giving him for a few minutes, glancing back at the compound and then looking at me. "Fine," he said finally. "Let me get an extra pack. It'll take a few hours to get there."

I watched him walk back to the airlock, and I looked at Ava. "Everything's gonna be okay," I told her. "You're gonna stay with me now, and no one's gonna hurt you. I promise."

She held onto my arm tighter. "I know," she whispered.

It took Norm probably twenty minutes to emerge from the airlock. He still wasn't wearing his exopack, but he had one strapped on just in case. He didn't look happy at all, but I couldn't say I felt sorry about that. I'd been here long enough, and it was time for me to go Home.

He led the way to the chopper as it still set on the courtyard lawn near the fence, and while he climbed into the cockpit, I strapped Thomas and Ava into their seats. I looked around one last time, hoping I didn't have to come back even if I knew it had been necessary to come here to find out about Ava.

Just before I got up into the chopper, a glimmer of light caught my eye as the airlock opened again. For a split second, I thought I saw Tommy step outside. He was wearing the same thing I'd been wearing my first day here. But he wasn't wearing an exopack the way he should have. He looked at me, and for a second, I thought about all the things that could've happened. But there wasn't anything I could do to fix that other than what I was already doing.

I blinked, and he disappeared. The airlock was still closed, and Norm called back to me.

"Hey, we goin' or not?"

I looked back at him, staring for a second before I looked back at the courtyard. It was empty like it had been for the last several days, and I climbed into the chopper with Thomas and Ava, strapping myself in and then nodding back at Norm. He turned on the engine then, switching on the turbines and pulling back the controls that allowed him to lift off the ground.

At first, all I could see what the base and then the empty mine that was still a bare scar on the surface on the land. And then as we got farther away, I could only see the forest. After that, I sat back, trying not to count the minutes as they passed silently.

Halfway into the flight, Ava moved from her seat to where I was sitting, and even though I knew she needed to stay still, I let her sit next to me, strapping her in with the harness next to mine and easing my arm around to keep her still. I didn't even think about it. And apparently, neither did she, wrapping her arm around me and then gazing out the opening of the chopper as the forest flew by. I glanced up at the cockpit, seeing Norm glancing at me, but neither of us did or said anything.

I saw my Home before we landed, signaling to Norm to put the chopper down, and he nodded, beginning our descent into a clearing about five kilometers from the village. The minute we were down, he began shutting the engines down, and I unstrapped Ava from the harness to help her out of the chopper before I turned to Thomas to help him too. He followed Ava, and Norm crawled out of the cockpit to face me.

"You know I never really thought any of this would happen," he said, and I knew what he was talking about.

"Neither did I," I admitted. "But it happened. And I have to take some kind of responsibility for it. I never thought I'd feel this way, but the last few days, I've been thinking about Tommy a lot more than I have in the last ten years. I wish he'd told me about this sooner. Maybe then when I got here, I could've changed this without sacrificing Neytiri and her people. But the reality is that I didn't know. And for all I do know, Ava spent the last ten years fending for her life out here. I have to fix that."

"I know you want to," Norm agreed. "I just hope you're right about this. If anything happens to her — "

"Then it'll be on me," I told him. "Not you. Go back to the lab. Find out everything you can. Learn everything you can. And I'm going to teach Ava everything I can. That's a promise."

"Take this," Norm said, handing me a comm unit. "In case something happens, and you _do_ need me."

Even though I didn't think I was gonna need to call him for anything again, I took the comm unit. That way if something happened on the base, he could call me. I knew it was only a matter of time before more Humans showed up, and I knew I'd need to be prepared.

"Get outta here," I told him. "They've probably already sent a party for us. And I'll try to keep in touch."

Norm nodded. "Yeah, me too."

I climbed out of the chopper quickly, hurrying to where Thomas and Ava had settled, and I watched Norm climb back into the cockpit. He strapped on his exopack, since his few hours were almost up, and with that, he waved and initialized the engines to lift off again. I watched him disappear into the sky, and after a few minutes, I looked at Thomas and Ava.

"Come on," I told them. "Let's get moving."

Neither of them argued with me, rising from the forest floor and following me toward Hometree.

I stayed alert while we walked. I knew there wasn't another Clan for several hundred kilometers, but like the Omaticaya, all the other clans were known to send out hunting parties. Sometimes, those parties would end up close to where we had settled, and I knew it was possible for them to be nearby. Now that I was back in the forest, my fears of Ava being discovered had increased a hundred fold, so I knew it was important for me to keep an eye on everything. I couldn't think about Neytiri while I was out here. I knew I would eventually have to tell Ava everything about me, but right now, her safety was more important than anything — even my grief.

The walk was long, but we all walked fast, staying close as the mid-morning light turned straight upward. The harsh light actually helped illuminate a lot things I wouldn't have seen otherwise. Ava and Thomas were both silent, never pausing or slowing down, and I kept them within arm's length the entire time. I thought about what I would say to Mo'at when I saw her. I knew about Ava's past, and I knew how she'd come to be. But I didn't know if that would be good enough for our spiritual leader. Since I'd shown up ten years earlier, and since Neytiri had started learning from her more intensely, she'd taken to reading the signs more vigorously than normal. If this wasn't meant to be this way — me bringing Ava to the Clan to stay — there was no telling what she would do or say.

"What is that?" Ava asked, her soft voice bringing me out of my thoughts and causing me to look at her. She was looking up into the sky, and I followed her gaze, astonished at what I saw. "I've seen it before, but I don't know what it is."

In the air around us, about five meters above our heads, I stood there and watched a Seed from the Sacred Tree float down until it landed on Ava's shoulder. She didn't back away from it the way I had, and she didn't bat her hand at it the way I did. She just watched it. It was obvious this had happened to her before, and I knew what it meant.

"Thomas," I said. "You see that, don't you?"

"_Atokirina_'!" he exclaimed.

"What is it?" Ava asked again.

I moved to her side, gently folding my hand around the seed and then allowing it to float away. I looked at her. "You've seen those before?" I asked her.

She nodded, watching the seed float further away.

"You saw them a lot?" I pressed, needing to be sure of what she was saying, since I wasn't entirely convinced she knew what it meant.

"All over," she told me. "What are they?"

"They're Seeds of the Sacred Tree," I told her, lifting my gaze to see the Seed still in our vicinity. "They're very pure spirits."

"_Ma sempul_!" Thomas whispered. "_Aungia_."

I looked at him, silent for almost a minute before I looked at Ava. "Come on," I told her, taking her hand and pulling her forward with Thomas. "I think I understand now."

She followed my pull faithfully, and I looked ahead of us, seeing the Retrieval Party coming closer to us. I was expecting Tu'San to be leading it, since he was the hunter most people trusted other than me. But I wasn't expecting to see Eyreal as she rode with her own bow. I hadn't even thought about her being a hunter, especially with how she'd reacted to Ava.

Eyreal dismounted her _Pa'li_ the moment she saw me, moving passed Tu'San and the other hunters as they followed.

"Jakesully," she said a second before she retreated and then bowed her head. "_Oel ngati kameie._"

I bowed my head also, looking at Tu'San as he stared disapprovingly. He didn't have to say anything, looking over my shoulder at Ava. I knew he hadn't expected me to bring her back.

"_Fayvrrtep fìtsenge lu kxanì!_" he growled, mirroring Tsu'tey's reaction to me. I didn't back down.

"_Aungia lolu. Tsahiku txele lu,_" I said calmly, adding in English, "She's not a Demon. And I can prove it."

Though he was still slightly taller than me, he knew he was obligated to defer to me, and he glared at Eyreal before returning to his _Pa'li_. I looked at Eyreal, noticing a look of relief in her eyes, but I couldn't tell if she was relieved I had returned or that I had brought Ava back with me. She bowed her head again, returning to her own _Pa'li_ as I reached back for Ava's hand to pull her forward with Thomas.

This time, the walk was easier since I didn't have to keep watch on the area around us. And it didn't take as long as I thought it would. Our Home emerged from the above the brush less than a kilometer from where we were, and I walked with the party toward the base where many of the villagers were now gathering to watch as I returned. I heard a lot of them whispering, and I knew they were talking about Ava. I pulled her forward regardless of their comments.

Mo'at was currently standing at the center of the base where it looked almost exactly like the base of Hometree, and she was surrounded by Tu'San, Eyreal and a couple of other hunters who all became silent the moment I was within earshot. They all backed away from Mo'at, and I approached her, bowing my head.

"_Oel ngati kameie_," I said softly.

"You have returned," she said in English, descending the steps to where I was standing with Ava and Thomas. "With the creature."

"I learned everything there was to learn of her creation," I told her.

Mo'at glanced at Tu'San and Eyreal. "I am told she is not one of the Sky People. But she is not one of us."

I glanced at Ava. "She is both, _Ma tsahik_," I said, hearing some of the people behind me gasp in horror. "She is not _uniltìranyu_. She is Human and Na'vi."

Mo'at stepping closer to me as I now stood in front of Ava protectively the same way I had several days earlier. "How is that possible?" she demanded.

I collected my thoughts, wanting the right words to come out of my mouth. "Her mother was Human," I said. "She came here the same way I did, but she came here as part of a test. A test to create a unique child. I saw her mother, _Ma tsahik_. She was like Grace and Norm. She respected the People. She planted trees as a gift to Eywa, and she was blessed with this child," I said looking at Ava. I waited for a minute, hoping Mo'at would process what I was telling her before I continued. "She is not our enemy," I stressed. "She is not a Demon. She is the only one of her kind. She had even less control over what happened to her as I did over what happened when I arrived here. And . . . there was sign from Eywa. I saw it, and so did Thomas. _Tsakrr za'u aungia ta Eywa_."

"_Nìngay_," Thomas exclaimed.

Mo'at seemed to take this in slowly, looking around her at everyone else and knowing what was expected of her. I only hoped it was enough for her to allow me to teach Ava our ways. "What you are telling me is that this creature was made here," she said after a minute. "She was . . . born here, as the Sky People are born."

"Yes," I confirmed. "And with your permission, I wish to teach her our ways, to be as we are with the land. The way I think she was intended to be."

"You believe she was meant to be here now?" Mo'at asked.

"I do," I said, bowing my head. "I will teach her myself. She won't disrupt anyone else's lives."

"_Kehe_," she said softly. I looked at her, afraid she wouldn't accept what I'd told her. And then she looked at Eyreal. "If she is to be taught, someone who is not as connected to her will teach her. And if she is to be proven worthy, someone else will prove it to me. You will teach your son. This creature will be taught by someone of my choosing."

I inhaled deeply, relieved even though I should have expected this. I looked at Ava, nodding that it would be okay. I hoped Mo'at would choose someone who would give Ava the benefit of the doubt.

"I will choose tomorrow," Mo'at said. "For now, you may take her with you to the dwelling of your choice for the rest of this day and night. I will send who I choose to you for her."

I bowed my head, speaking softly so only those within the immediately vicinity could hear me. "I wish to take her to Eywa. To show her our Mother."

It took several seconds for Mo'at to agree to that, but finally, she spoke, stepping closer to me. "Very well. Go now."

I didn't wait for anyone else's approval, glancing at Thomas and nodding for him to find his friends so I could be alone with Ava. After he was off, I looked at Eyreal, but I didn't say anything as I pulled Ava through to the other side of the village where the herd of _Pa'li_ was currently milling around the grass and plants. I stopped Ava just inside the herd, finding two horses and pulling them to where she was standing.

"These are direhorse," I told Ava, allowing her to touch the one I stopped next to her. "We call them _Pa'li_. We use them to go most everywhere. This is Palе," I said, patting her and allowing her to acknowledge me. "We're kind of acquainted."

Ava stepped closer to the horse, touching her the way I did. "Is it a boy or a girl?" she asked.

"She's a girl," I said, remembering the first time Neytiri had gotten me on her when I'd ignorantly thought she was a boy. I then noticed that while the horse was only about a meter taller than me, she was two meters taller than Ava, and I folded my hands together for Ava to use as a step so she could climb onto the horse. I mean, it _was_ the size of an elephant.

Ava had no trouble mounting Palе, even with me helping her, and I automatically soothed the horse, easing her queue to where Ava could see it. I remembered when I'd first mounted the horse and seen her queue, I'd automatically reached for my own. The more I thought about it now, it had felt natural for me to be connected to it. Ava, however, didn't seem to have the same instinct. I wondered if anyone had told her or shown her what her queue was for.

Even though I'd meant to take two horses to the Tree, it became obvious that Ava's understanding was more important than appearances. After a minute of her sitting there without knowing what she was supposed to do, I climbed onto the horse with her, situating myself behind her and reaching for the horse's queue. Gently, I also reached for hers, showing her the end of it as the tendrils inside stretched and squirmed with a life of their own. Watching them made me think of the first time I'd seen mine, and instantly, I could hear Grace's voice.

"_Don't play with that. You'll go blind."_

I absently smiled, and Ava looked at me silently.

Even though I'd never had it described to me, I instinctively knew what it was, and I told Ava. "This is our queue," I said, and she looked at the end of her braid. "It's what we use to connect to the animals and plants around us. You were born with one, so you're meant to use it the same way I do. You can use it to connect with the horse. Have you never done that before?"

"No," she said softly.

"Try it," I replied, still holding the horse's queue as its tendrils reached for hers.

She took my lead, taking her own braid and easing it toward the horse's queue, and within seconds of them connecting, the horse responded a lot like it had with me, shrieking loudly. I tried to keep her still.

"_Sìltsan_, Palе, _sìltsan._" I lowered my voice and spoke to Ava. "Do you feel her?"

Ava's whole body went still, and I wondered if she was feeling what I'd felt the first time. I could still hear Neytiri's voice talking to me.

"_That is _tsaheylu_ . . . the bond. Feel her. Feel her breath, her heartbeat. Feel her strong legs. You may tell her what to do . . . inside. For now, say where to go."_

And then I'd promptly crashed into the mud completely laid out on all fours. Neytiri had laughed at me. With me on here, I hoped that wouldn't happen to Ava. I tried to tell her what Neytiri had told me.

"That's _tsaheylu_," I said softly. "We call it _the bond_. You should be able to feel her. And she can feel you. Feel her heartbeat. Her breath. Feel her legs. You can tell her what to do in your head after you're used to it. But for now, you can say where to go."

I'd been worried about Ava adjusting to the new world around her, but it didn't look like I had anything to worry about. Especially when the horse started to move without her saying anything. I couldn't hide my astonishment, even though I was proud.

"That's good," I said. I laughed, holding onto Ava as the horse went a little faster. "That's very good."

I looked around, seeing Eyreal nearby, but I didn't do anything, allowing Ava to guide Palе around the clearing. I figured she had to know I would want to teach Ava some things myself, and since I had the afternoon and night with her, I was going to teach her everything I could. I could see Tu'San in the far distance, a look of disdain on his face, but he did nothing, and neither did I.

"Where are we going?" Ava asked softly, and the horse stopped abruptly.

"A place where you can learn about the other half of yourself," I told her. "It's called _Vitraya Ramunong_. It means the Tree of Souls. It's the most sacred place we have. Norm once called it our direct line to our ancestors. To Eywa. I'm going to show you to Her, and Her to you."

"Who's Eywa?" she asked, her English almost as good as mine.

I smiled at her, looking back at Eyreal and Tu'San. "I asked the same thing when I first got here. Just say the words to the horse. She knows where it is."

Within seconds, the horse moved again, this time turning east toward our destination. Then Ava looked at me. "When did you get here?" she asked slowly. "I thought you were born here like me."

I thought for a minute, realizing she didn't know everything about me she needed to. "It's a long story. I _was_ born here. The second time, anyway. Before that, it's a little more complicated. I'll tell you when we get there, okay?"

She nodded, returning her attention to where the horse was going.

The journey there wasn't as long as I remembered from the last time I'd gone, but I realized less than an hour into the trek that I'd been carrying Neytiri's body the last time, and now I was riding a horse with Ava. I thought about Neytiri most of the way, wondering what she would say when she saw Ava and what she would have done. The first time she'd seen me, she'd wanted to kill me. Only a sign from Eywa had saved my life, and I didn't know Neytiri would have allowed the several days it had taken to realize that Ava had been touched by Eywa before she'd even been born. I wanted to hope that my own mate would have at least wanted to know the same things I'd wanted to know.

Since finding our new Hometree, it was rare for many of the people to come to the Tree of Souls. It was a place for worship, that was true, but with Mo'at doing most of her teaching and listening around the village, a lot of the people who'd found refuge here after Hometree had been destroyed now found refuge in her presence. With Neytiri's death, and Mo'at without any other daughters, her successor was an even harder choice to make. We probably wouldn't talk about that for many more years.

So when Ava and I arrived at our destination, I wasn't surprised to find the grounds of the Tree vacated. In ten years, village life had returned to normal, and this place was usually kept untouched. I was hoping I would be left alone with Ava long enough to show her everything I possible could.

I stopped at the edge of the basin the Tree rested inside, dismounting the horse and then turning to help Ava to the ground. She disconnected from the horse easily, more easily than I ever had, allowing me to take her in my hands and then set her down next to me. I was instantly reminded how much smaller than me she really was, and I was surprised to realize that if anything happened to her, I would be even more devastated than I already was over Neytiri's death. And I wasn't sure how I felt about that yet.

Ava looked around as we began our descent into the basin, a smile easing along her face slowly. "_Vitraya Ramunong_," she whispered, her pronunciation nearly as perfect as if she'd grown up here.

"Not many of us come here much anymore," I said as we walked. "It's only a safe haven in times of need."

"It's . . . beautiful," she said slowly.

I nodded. "It is. Though that's probably not what I thought the first time I saw it. But you deserve to be here more than I did, and I wanted to show it to you."

She looked at me. "Why?"

I looked around again, seeing the arches above our heads as the midday light shined above us. The first time I'd seen this place, really seen it, it had been illuminated by the orange-pink light of dusk, and I'd been coming here to beg for help with Grace after she'd been shot by Quaritch. I'd prayed here before the battle that had resulted in most of the aliens being banished from the land, and I'd passed through Her Eye here to find my way from my Human body to the one I had now. Grace was here somewhere, and now that I knew she'd helped Amelia have Ava, I wanted her to know everything would be okay.

We arrived at the base of the Tree as the tendrils hung and swayed in the wind, and I sat Ava down before sitting in front of her.

"I wasn't always like the way I am now," I began. "I've actually only really been here for ten years. I got here in my brother's place after he was killed. I used to be Human, Ava. Like Norm and Max in their small bodies."

She extended her hand, laying it on my chest. I'd since taken off my knife and left my bow with the horse. I wasn't even wearing my collar. It was just me. I wanted her to see that. "Jake," she said softly.

I lifted my hand to hers. "I'm Jake," I nodded. "I'm also _Olo'eyktan_. Clan leader. But I wasn't always." I sighed heavily, realizing this was going to take a lot longer than I'd initially thought. "This is going to take forever," I said softly.

"_Kxawm_," I heard and turned my head to see Eyreal there alone. "But I . . . help."

She approached us slowly, still holding her bow and sheathing her knife. "_Ma tsahik_ ask me to . . . follow you. To watch . . ._ swirä_."

"Her name is Ava," I told Eyreal.

She looked at Ava, repeating her name as she sat down with us. "I talk to _ma tsahik_. I ask to teach Ava. You can teach me."

I couldn't hide my surprise. While I'd hoped a few of the Clan would at least accept that I'd decided to do this, I'd never imagined one of them would volunteer to be Ava's teacher since it was obvious Mo'at wouldn't let me do it myself. At least not out in the open. I was . . . grateful for the first time in years. "Thank you," I said softly.

She bowed her head, smiling the way she had after meeting Ava the first time. "You teach her to ride," Eyreal said gesturing to the horse as it waited at the top of the basin.

"It was the only way to get here quick enough," I admitted. "But she did good. Better than me."

"She strong now?" Eyreal asked, glancing at Ava and then looking at me.

I knew she was talking about what I'd said to Mo'at when I'd told her about seeing a sign from Eywa. I hadn't thought about it before, but that had been one of the reasons why Neytiri had followed me and then saved me from the _nantang_ the day we'd met. I realized Ava had a strong heart and spirit like me, and that was probably how she'd survived in the forest for so long. It was clear she had more natural instincts with the land than I'd had at the time. I gently touched her face then, and she looked at me. I smiled and looked at Eyreal. "Yes," I said. "She is very strong. She would have to be to survive out here, right?"

"_Ma tsahik_ say she born here as we born here," Eyreal said, reaching for Ava and touching her cheek. "Is true?"

I nodded. "It's true," I confirmed. "Ava's father . . . he was one of the People. But we don't know who he was. And her mother was Human. More Human than the aliens we banished from the land after they attacked us. Ava has more right to be here than anyone back there realizes," I said, nodding back toward the village.

"You know her now?" Eyreal asked.

I nodded again, but I didn't say anything, looking around the basin and then up into the tendrils of the tree as several of its seeds drifted overhead.

"My words not so good," Eyreal admitted.

I looked at her. "How did you learn the first time?" I asked. "Did Grace teach you?"

"No," she said shaking her head. "Neytiri teach." Her eyes turned sad as they glanced in the direction of my mate's grave, and I did too. My Human body was out here along with Grace's body. I didn't want to add to it. "Her words good?"

I looked at Ava again. "Yes. I think she knew it before but forgot because she was in the forest so long. It only took a few days with Norm for her to remember most of it. But she's still learning. Like me I guess."

"Then you teach me your words," Eyreal said. "And I will teach her ours. Fair trade?"

I smiled. "Yeah. That's fair."

Eyreal bowed her head. "Then we both teach her to See."

I bowed my head too. "Agreed."

Eyreal reached behind her, retrieving small pouches and then handing them to me. "I bring food for you," she said.

I took the pouches. "_Oel ngati kameie_, _ma tsmuke, ulte oe irayo si ngaru."_

"What does that mean?" Ava asked as I gave a pouch to her. "You said that to me when I gave you food."

"I See you," I repeated the first part in English. "It means, I understand you, I See into you. It's kind of like, 'Hello'. It took me a while to figure it out, but I did. Don't worry," I told her. "With as fast as you learned from Norm, Na'vi words should be easy for you."

"Say it again," she requested.

I repeated it in Na'vi, and she did too. Eyreal's ears perked up immediately, and she smiled.

"_Sìltsan_!" she exclaimed. "Good!"

For the moment, sitting there with Ava and Eyreal, I thought everything was going to be okay.

Since I'd planned to remain at the Tree for most of the afternoon and the rest of the night, Eyreal stayed with me and Ava. It had been a long time since I'd taught anyone anything, and it had been ten years since I'd been taught myself. But teaching Ava what Neytiri had taught me felt more important than anything I'd done in a long time. Neytiri and Thomas had always been at the top of that list, and nothing was going to change that. But now it felt like Ava was near the top of that list with them, and it felt like she'd always been meant to be there – especially with what I knew about Tommy now.

Eyreal stayed aloof even while she sat near the base of the Tree with me and Ava. She allowed me to show Ava how the tree worked and what we used it for. I'd only ever been here to do this once, but I honestly felt like this was a little more important. Asking for acceptance and guidance was a little different than asking for help in a war.

"You can talk to Eywa here," I told Ava as we sat beneath the Tree. The light had almost completely faded, and the tendrils were now glowing brightly. "She is our Great Mother. She's like the God Norm is always talking about, except She's real. I prayed to her once, and she answered. Of course, I think that was a unique situation. But so is this," I said, taking my queue and lifting it to one of the tendrils.

Instantly, I could feel all the things I'd felt the last time. This place was different from _Utral Aymokriyä_. There, I'd heard the voices of Neytiri's ancestors – children and women and men who'd lived before most of the People who lived now. It had been one of the most interesting experiences of my life, along with mating with Neytiri. Praying to Eywa had felt like the most peaceful moments of my short life, and even Neytiri hadn't thought it would work. But I knew the Great Mother had listened to me then. I hoped she would listen to me now.

Ava followed me, taking her own queue and connecting it to one of the tendrils near mine. Her face went blank, and she inhaled deeply, lifting her eyes to the tree. I couldn't hear what she was hearing, but her reaction was a lot stronger than mine.

"I can hear her," Ava whispered softly.

"You can talk to her," I said gently.

"What do I say?" she asked so softly I almost didn't hear her.

I leaned closer to her. "Well, you probably shouldn't say what I said the last time," I said, grinning. "But she'll listen to you, whatever it is. She should actually already be able to hear you no matter what. Your mother prayed to her too, Ava. And Eywa gave you to her. I know that now. I just have to make everyone else see that," I insisted, glancing at Eyreal as she looked at me.

Ava never said a word, but every now and then, she would smile, and once, I saw tears in her eyes. But I didn't disturb her. I made sure to stay next to her if she needed anything, and after a little while, she reached for my hand. I didn't deny her anything. And it looked like Eyreal didn't want to either, since she stayed a good three or four meters from us while we sat there.

When Ava finally disconnected from the Tree, it was dark, and she almost immediately laid down over the roots of the tree. I laid down with her, even though I'd never slept here before. It felt normal to be close to her since it had actually been over seven days since Neytiri's death. Eyreal came closer then, but she didn't say anything, laying down in the opposite direction. I still wasn't sure what her interest in Ava was. I didn't know if she really wanted to help me, or if she just wanted to be the one in the clan to prove me wrong. I fell asleep under the Tree hoping it was because she wanted to do the right thing like me and not cause more harm than good.

Having only been under the Tree a few times in the ten years I'd been here, I wasn't completely prepared for the thoughts and dreams that flowed through my head that night, and if anyone had told me the day Neytiri had died that I'd be back here doing this, I would have called them a liar. I don't even think Norm would have believed this.

In my dream, I was facing Neytiri instead of Mo'at and trying to explain Ava's origins. And it wasn't as easy as I'd hoped. There was no way to say it where it sounded normal or even expected, and I was afraid she would dismiss Ava like she didn't belong with me or us or anyone. I knew how it looked, finding a strange-looking girl in the forest who didn't look Human or Na'vi. The Sky People had stuck their noses where they didn't belong, creating an anomaly no one wanted to claim. I wanted to claim her since no one else would. She deserved somewhere to belong, and if it had to be with me, then so be it.

"_You feel responsible for this child,"_ she said to me, her eyes blank and unyielding.

"_I do,"_ I told her. _"For my brother."_

"_And how do you plan to honor him by teaching this child our ways?"_

"_I think it was supposed to be that way. Her mother tried to teach her, but something happened to her after Tommy died. If I'd known about her, I still would have wanted to make this right. Please."_

"_Yes,"_ she said. _"The Human."_

I was surprised to hear a tinge of disgust in her voice, and I couldn't imagine Neytiri ever feeling that way toward someone who had obviously tried to do the right thing. But then I looked behind her, and I couldn't believe what I saw. Standing behind Neytiri was Amelia, very small and very pregnant, the way she'd been the last time Neytiri would have seen her. I hadn't even thought of that until now, in a dream as I stood in front of Amelia with her looking at me like I'd stolen something from her I had no right to have. And I knew that something wasn't Ava. It was Tommy.

There was no need for words, not even when I stepped in front of her and reached out to touch her. Up until now, she'd only been an image in a video log, but when my fingers made contact with her cheek and then her bare arm, I knew something else. She was still out there somewhere. And she needed to be laid to rest. I had to find her before someone else did, and the only way I could do that was if I knew more. I needed to know more about her now, and not just Ava. I'd been so keen on learning about Amelia's daughter that I hadn't even thought about her, about how she'd coped with Tommy's death. Even though I'd spent six years in cryo, it had been sixteen years for me too, and without the ability to dream, it had felt more immediate after getting to Pandora than it had the moment those suits had told me. The only real connection I had to Tommy was the body I was in now since it had been made with his DNA, and not mine.

"_I'm sorry,"_ I said to Amelia, and she lifted her hand to mine.

She didn't speak, but I didn't need her to. It was the strangest thing, but it was almost like I could read her mind. It felt almost like I was more connected to her now than I had been to my own mate.

"_I'll take care of her. I promise."_

The scene shifted abruptly, and it was dark. I couldn't see where I was, but I was advancing slowly, knife in hand and ears perked up to hear every little sound there was to hear. The brush was thick, and it was raining so the ground was damp. Light caught my eyes up ahead, and I realized I'd found my destination. I felt determined and afraid, but I wasn't sure why. I'd never been here before, but a smell in the air told me what I was looking for and where it was. Ava was here somewhere, but I didn't know why. I could hear war cries up ahead, and I thought for the slightest moment that Ava was in trouble, and I had to get to her.

* * *

"_Ma_ Jake."

Neytiri's voice broke me from my dream, but when I opened my eyes, I saw Eyreal above me. I was disoriented for several seconds, allowing her to sit me upright as I laid my eyes on Ava. It was light out, and the forest around us was silent except for the birds and bugs. I looked around, seeing we were still alone despite it being morning, and I looked at Ava again, seeing her long dark-light brown hair braided the way Eyreal's was. It was then that I realized how much she reminded me of Neytiri.

"We couldn't wake you," Ava said softly, easing closer to me as Eyreal stood up and also looked around.

I didn't like the sound of that, but I didn't say anything, taking Ava's arms in my hands. "Are you all right?" I asked her.

"I'm all right," she whispered, lifting her hands to mine. "Are you?"

I looked at Eyreal, seeing distance in her eyes but knowing it was only because she was hearing something she didn't like. I looked at Ava. "I'll let you know about that later. Right now, we probably need to leave here. We'll be safer closer to Home."

She didn't argue with me, allowing me to pull her to her feet and then move to where Eyreal was standing.

"What do you hear?" I asked her softly, holding Ava's hand tightly.

"_Tipani_," she whispered, her ears tipped forward as she listened further. "Close. One-Two _tsamsiyu_."

"One-Two?" I repeated. It took me a few seconds to realize what she meant. "You mean twelve?"

She nodded. "_Vosìng_."

It was then I decided we'd been there long enough, and I took the lead, pulling Ava with me away from the Tree to get to where I'd left Palе. We all walked quickly, arriving at the edge of the basin as the sounds of the nearby warriors became more prominent. I didn't wait for Ava to mount, lifting her onto the horse myself then helping Eyreal before I got up myself. I used my own queue, urging the horse on and holding Ava against me as we sped up to leave before we were discovered. Eyreal held onto me without a word, but I could feel her keeping watch on the forest as it moved passed us faster than it had the day before.

"Hurry," she whispered.

With one thought, we were galloping.

* * *

**Alrighty, then. Seems to be shaping up pretty nicely. We'll move right on to the definitions, since there are A LOT.**

**_atokirina' - Seeds of the Sacred Tree (or Woodsprites - very pure spirits)_**

**_Aungia - Sign, omen_**

**_Fayvrrtep fitsenge lu kxani - These Demons are forbidden here. (you should recognize this one from the movie. It seemed to fit.)_**

**_Aungia lolu. Tsahiku txlele lu. - There has been a sign. This is a matter for the Tsahik. (Also from the movie. Again, it seemed to fit. These are also approximations, by Zoe Saldana and Laz Alonzo)_**

_**uniltìranyu - Dreamwalker**_

_**Tsakrr za'u aungia ta Eywa - There was a sign from Eywa. (This actually means 'there has been a sign from Eywa.' But since the movie is considered canon, we use this)**_

_**nìngay - truly**_

_**Kehe - no.**_

_**sìltsan - good**_

_**tsaheylu - the bond**_

_**Vitraya Ramunong - Tree of Souls (This actually mean 'Well of Souls,' which is what it's called in the script and therefore how Mr. Frommer translated it. I don't know why they changed it.)**_

_**kxawm - Maybe, perhaps**_

_**swirä - Creature**_

_**Oel ngati kameie, ma tsmuke, ulte ow irayo si ngaru. - I see you, sister, and I give thanks to you.**_

_**Utral Aymokriyä - Tree of Voices**_

_**Tipani - Another Na'vi clan**_

_**tsamsiyu - Warrior**_

_**vosìng - Twelve (Why doesn't she say this? Don't ask me. Maybe she didn't think Jake would understand her at first. These characters do whatever they want, honestly.)**_

**Whew, That was A LOT of definitions!**

**Hope you kept up with all of 'em. Anyway. Stay tuned. Part two might take a little while to get up since I'm going on vacation next week, but I promise I will do everything humanly possible not to leave you hanging.**

**Until next time, Keep Calm and Carry on!  
**


	12. Time in A bottle, Part II

**New chapter, second half of last chapter. Get it? While you read through this, I'm going to ask you to keep an open mind about Jake's behavior. Please.**

**Also thanks for all the alerts, reviews and favorites. I appreciate them so much. Just one more chapter to go before we find ourselves in the thick of Ava's training. So I hope this chapter lives up to your standards.**

**Keep an eye out for details and clues up ahead. Is that enough warning?**

**Read on!  
**

* * *

_**Time in a Bottle, Part II**_

We made it back before we were discovered, and while I trusted the borders of our village to protect us, I was glad Eyreal knew how dangerous it was for Ava to be out in the open. I hoped that meant she would ask Mo'at for some kind of protection while she was out teaching Ava all the things she needed to know. I also hoped Mo'at would allow me to keep them safe, but I honestly wasn't holding out for it anymore.

Morning activities were already underway as we made it to the clearing where the rest of the _pa'li_ grazed, and I helped Eyreal to the ground before dismounting myself and turning to get Ava.

"Jakesully," I heard and turned to see a group of Thomas' friends running toward me. Normally, most of the Clan members didn't use my name, but most of Thomas' friends didn't like following the rules .

"Is it true?" one of them asked.

"Is what true?" I asked, glancing at Eyreal and nodding for her to take Ava.

They all followed Ava with their eyes, and I had an idea what they were asking about.

"Is _swirä_ really Sky Person and Na'vi?"

I also followed Eyreal and Ava with my eyes, waiting until they were out of my sight to look at the kids. "It's true," I told them. "I saw her mother. And she was more than a Sky Person. She was more like me, the way I was before I was in this body. You all know me, right?"

They all nodded, murmuring softly. "We do."

"Then trust me," I said to them. "And I won't ever lie to you. Okay?"

They all looked at each other, agreeing after a minute. "Okay," they all murmured.

I started off to follow Eyreal then, finding her with Mo'at and Tu'San as Ava stood behind her.

Tu'San didn't look happy, and when I heard what they were talking about, I realized why.

"_Ma Tu'San, awngeyä fya'ori sì li nga sänume sivi poe . . . fte tsivun pilvlltxe si tiviran na ayoeng."_

"_Ruxte, Ma tsahik,"_ Eyreal whispered. _"Fi'u lehrrap."_

"It is decided," Mo'at said in English. "Tu'San will teach her our way. Let us hope she can learn as well as those before her. Though I have low expectations."

Tu'San stepped closer to Ava, taking her arm roughly, and I stepped in, yelling at him.

"_Kehe!"_ I slapped his hand from her, glaring up at him. I'd since put my collar back on, so everyone could see the Clan Leader disagreeing with the Tsahik. And Mo'at looked at me so harshly, like I'd insulted her very existence. But I didn't back down.

"Do you not wish to have her be taught?" Mo'at asked me in English.

I looked at Eyreal and then Ava, glaring up at Tu'San. "I do. But not by him. He will not teach her. He will only hurt her and insult her intelligence."

"She should go away," Tu'San snapped in English, and I stepped closer to him.

"She's not going anywhere," I growled lowly

Ava took my arm in both her hands, speaking as she pulled me away from him. "It's all right, Jake," she said, and I looked at her. She looked at Tu'San, and it looked like she remembered him from before. "If I can't learn from him, then I can't learn at all. Right?"

She looked at Eyreal and then Mo'at, accepting the terms laid out in front of her.

"Ava, you don't have to do this," I told her. "I told Norm I would take care of you. I wanted to teach you. I know I'm supposed to."

"And you will," she said softly. "But I've been surviving a long time on my own. You'll know if he's doing a bad job, right?"

I glanced at Mo'at and then Eyreal before I looked at Tu'San again. "Yes," I said. "I will." I stepped closer to Tu'San. "If I hear about you doing anything wrong to her, saying anything wrong about her, leaving her anywhere to fend for herself, this ends. She is more unique and precious than you can possibly fathom, and from this moment on, she'll be your responsibility as much as she is mine. Her failure will reflect on you more than it will on me. You will not hit her. You will not yell at her. You will not insult her. I'll be watching you."

Ava waited for me to finish before she stepped in front of Tu'San. They didn't say anything to each other, but when he looked at me, I saw what I thought was an understanding between them. I hoped I hadn't overstepped my boundaries, but I'd made a promise, and I intended to keep it.

I stepped back from Ava, watching her walk away with Tu'San, and as soon as they were gone, I turned to Mo'at, speaking as softly as I could without anyone hearing me.

"Can I speak to you in private, please?"

I'd never had to do what I was about to do, but I had to make sure she knew how I felt and what I knew, and I couldn't do that in front of anyone else. So when she bowed her head in agreement, I glanced at Eyreal, silently telling her to keep an eye on Ava for me.

I led Mo'at away from the rest of the Clan, climbing into the interior of the tree where we would be able to talk without anyone else hearing us. I'd never really had to do this before, but I felt the need to do it now, and I wasn't going to stop just because Neytiri had died less than ten days earlier.

"You're grieving," I began, turning to face her. "I know you are. I am too. I hope you're not trying to punish anyone else for Neytiri's death but me. I told you what I saw, and I thought that would be more important to you than punishing me."

"I do not understand," she said blankly. "You wanted this creature taught our way. And she will be. Was this not what you wanted? Was this not what our Great Mother wanted?"

"Her name is Ava," I said, my voice elevated slightly. "Don't you believe me when I tell you about her? I saw it with my own eyes. Her mother was here, Mo'at. With Grace. Before Sylwanin's death. Her name was Amelia. She was carrying a baby. Neytiri would have known her. Don't you remember her?"

It took several seconds for realization to fill her eyes, and I sighed heavily. "Tu'San will not teach her anything but how unworthy she is to be taught. She's even less alien than I am. She was born here!"

Her eyes widened, and I retreated. "I'm sorry," I said softly. "But please. I know I might not be as objective as he is, but I know her. And she trusts me. And she's been out there for so long. Eyreal can help me. I need to do this."

She was silent for several more seconds, and I knew I was pushing it too far. I hadn't been like this since before the War, and I was sure she wasn't enjoying me doing this. I had to admit, I didn't like it either. But if anything happened to Ava and I could have prevented it, then I'd have to live with that for the rest of my life. I was already carrying the burden of my mate dying at my hands. I couldn't handle it if anyone else had the same fate.

"I am not punishing you," she said slowly. I knew the word was foreign to her, but she said it nonetheless. "But you are too close to her to be for certain she will learn properly. I wish for what you wish for. Allow time for this to settle, and we will speak on this at another time."

She left me there without really resolving anything, and I stood there a good five minutes, remembering how Neytiri had taught me only because she'd been told. We'd spent every waking hour together when I wasn't with Grace or Norm, and I knew what had happened over the three months it had taken me to learn everything she taught me. I'd fallen in love with her. But I'd only learned because she'd given me the chance to learn. And I was so afraid no one here would do that for Ava. No one but me. And maybe Eyreal.

Ava was gone with Tu'San most of the day, only returning when it was time for the evening gathering, and while I'd been able to keep myself busy most of the day with mindless activities and boring counseling sessions, the minute I saw them coming back, I left where I'd settled to reach them as she walked about a meter and a half behind him covered in dirt and carrying an old bow. He was dirty too, but he didn't look happy about it. He glared at me, proceeding toward where everyone else was gathering, and I watched as Ava stopped in front of me.

"I like your friend," she said, removing the bow and wiping dirt from her forehead. "He's stubborn. A lot like you."

I didn't hide my smile, looking up to see Eyreal also returning, and I waited for her to arrive at where we were to speak to Ava. "He reminds me of an old friend. Never really thought he was like me though."

Eyreal's eyes dropped slightly, and I figured she knew who I was talking about, but I didn't say his name. Eyreal moved closer to Ava, turning her around to face her, and after one glance over her body, Eyreal looked at me.

"I take her to bath," she said, and I nodded, allowing them to move passed me to perform their task.

I waited for them to return, and Ava was perfect the next time I saw her. But I also saw scrapes over her chin and a bruise over her shoulder. She saw the attention I gave her injuries, and she spoke softly.

"I fell through a few branches before I caught a vine," she explained. "I don't think he expected me to follow him, but when I did, he put dirt on it. I think he meant for it to stop hurting. But it still burns."

I rubbed the bruise and then her scrapes. "We'll look at them later," I told her, looking at Eyreal and seeing her nod. I took that to mean that Ava was telling the truth and not sparing my anger.

With that, we all followed the people gathering at the second level of the tree. Thomas was next to Mo'at, and I pulled Ava with me as I took my place. I showed Ava the food, whispering to her what it was in English and Na'vi. She made a face at it the same way I had, but she took what I gave her, nodding graciously. I looked at Mo'at then, but she didn't say anything, and neither did I. My eyes also found Tu'San as he sat across the fire from us, and he only stared.

Songs and stories filled most of the time we sat in the gathering, and I had to stay until it was all right for anyone to leave. Mo'at usually stayed until the last person was gone, but I wanted to get Thomas to bed, so we left when he started to get tired. Ava followed silently, glancing behind her and then looking around as we ascended the tree. Thomas told me about his day while we climbed, and it sounded like he'd had an eventful day. He didn't mention seeing the argument I'd had with Mo'at, and he didn't ask where I'd been all night the night before. It hadn't seemed to bother him.

"I slept in a hammock for the first time last night," he exclaimed sleepily.

I smiled as we arrived in our alcove, and he stepped onto the mat without me saying anything to him. I sat Ava on a stub inside the alcove, using what little light there was to look at her scrapes.

"You did good for your first day then?" I asked, taking a paste I'd taken from the gathering and rubbing it over her scrapes.

"We ran all over the place," she said smiling. "I didn't get tired once. I think it was frustrating for him. He tried to make me take my necklace off. I punched him."

"You punched him?" I chuckled.

Ava allowed me to finish, easing away from me and making her way onto the mat. I followed her, laying down with her.

"What is it?" I asked.

She didn't say anything for a few minutes, holding her eyes away from me as it appeared she was thinking about something she didn't want to think about. Tears slid from her eyes, and I reached for her face, making her look at me.

"Ava, what's wrong?"

"I . . . lied to you," she said softly.

"About what?" I asked shaking my head.

She sat up slowly, and I followed her, reaching for her as she tried to get away.

"Ava," I said again. "What did you lie about?"

"My mother didn't give this to me," she said, touching her necklace and then looking at me. "You did."

I didn't understand what she was telling me, knowing it wasn't possible for me to have given her anything. She reached for my face, touching my cheeks and then my lips and my chin. She touched the spots on my forehead, and I found myself thinking about Tommy. Amelia had talked to Tommy for ten months. She'd loved him and lost him the same way I had. I had his Avatar. It was the only real connection I had to him. Amelia had possessed something much more valuable. His heart. But how was it possible for Tommy to have given Ava anything? He'd been killed before she'd been born.

"_Looks like him."_

"_No, it looks like you. This is your avatar now, Jake."_

Norm's words played in my head, and Ava spread her hands over my cheeks. It probably wasn't possible for her to understand the concept of twins, not after only a few days with Norm. But I had to try to explain it to her.

"Ava," I said softly. I didn't even know where to start, but before I could say anything else, she spoke.

"I'm tired," she whispered. "Did I mention that I ran all over the place today?"

I inhaled deeply, touching her face gently and then turning her back to me to tuck her in my arms. She relaxed as soon as we laid down, and I did too. But my mind was racing, thinking about the day those suits had come to tell me about Tommy. I hadn't thought about it in so long, and it was all so blurry. But now that I was thinking about it, the memories seemed able to bubble to the surface.

It was the third time in a row I'd dreamed about Tommy, but he wasn't anywhere in the dream. Nowhere but a cardboard box in the Crematorium.

"_We'll release your brother's personal effects to the recruiting agents when they come to get you tomorrow,"_ one of the suits had told me on the ride back to my apartment.

"_Personal effects? Like his clothes and shit?"_

"_Yes."_

Honestly, I hadn't wanted any of Tommy's things, but in the five or six days it had taken them to get me ready and on the shuttle, a lot of things had happened that I hadn't been in control of. Tommy's bloody clothes had been packed in my bag along with everything I'd had left. His shoes and his jacket, and a silver necklace with a butterfly charm.

The scene in my dream shifted again, abruptly aligning me with the inside of the habitat I'd shared with Norm on base, and I was sitting beside the bed going through my bag. These memories were still blurry to me, but this was as clear as day. And I couldn't believe I'd forgotten this. Even if I'd been in a different mindset, what guy forgot about a beautiful little girl appearing at his door with an inquisitive look on her face.

"_You're Jake, right?"_ she asked softly.

I remembered turning and seeing a girl with paint of her face in the doorway in a tank top and a pair of shorts. She was probably four and a half feet tall and looked about ten, but her eyes were so beautiful. I remembered smiling at her.

"_That's me,"_ I confirmed.

"_Grace told me about you. You're here to do what Uncle Warren does."_

"_Who?"_

She shook her head. _"Nothing. What is that?"_

She moved around the room to where I'd laid Tommy's things, reaching out to touch the necklace as it laid on top of his bloody shirt.

"_It's my brother's,"_ I said. _"He was always a little girly. Here, you take it. You'll put it to good use, right?"_

She smiled widely as I lifted the necklace and unclasped it, securing it around her neck as she laughed softly.

"_Irayo,"_ she whispered.

"_What?"_

She shook her head. _"Oh, sorry. Thank you,"_ she said as a tall, dark blond haired guy appeared at the door.

He didn't look familiar to me, but it looked like he knew her. _"Ava, you're not supposed to be here."_

She looked at me. _"Bye," _she waved.

I smiled at her, watching the guy take her hand and pull her out of the room. I noticed her arms and legs painted too, and I remember thinking it must have been a kid thing. I don't think I'd noticed her tail or her braid, but like I said, I'd been in a different mindset. And I'd never seen her again, so how was I supposed to know there weren't any other kids on the base. I guess a smart person would have figured that out, but what can I say? I was an idiot back then.

"_I just want to see him."_

"_No. It's not him, and you shouldn't be around him. He's an arrogant, military asshole, and he'll go to Selfridge if he finds out about this."_

Grace's voice echoed in my head, and I didn't remember ever hearing this. But I guess there'd been a lot of things I hadn't heard or known on base.

"_Besides, I don't trust him, and I'm the one who has to work with him, so you just steer clear of him for now, all right?"_

* * *

I was awake before anyone else, gathering up the comm unit Norm had given me and leaving before anyone could see me. I walked out as far as I could without anyone finding me, and even though I knew it was early, I also knew someone at the compound would be up. I'd honestly never thought about asking for this, but having Ava with me now was causing all these old memories to resurface, and after getting all the details about how she'd been created, I needed the rest of the story now. Amelia and Ava had been on base for nearly six years before I got there, and in the three months I was there, I'd probably ripped their world out from under them. I'd never even thought of who I was hurting, not even the Na'vi who'd died in the war. All I'd known was I couldn't let Selfridge and Quaritch destroy something they had no right to, and beyond that, I hadn't cared. Now I had to care.

As soon as I was far enough away from the village, I strapped on the throat piece, sliding the earpiece in and then touching the nodes to talk.

"Norm? Are you there?"

For several seconds, nothing came back. I knew Norm wouldn't give me a comm unit that wouldn't reach him, and I waited for someone to talk to me.

"Norm," I said again. "Can you hear me?"

"Jake?" I recognized Max's voice.

"Where's Norm?"

"He's outside taking samples. I'll go get him."

I waited another minute or two, and then I could hear Norm. "Jake. Is everything okay there? Is Ava okay?"

"She's fine. But I need something from you."

"What do you need?"

I paused, looking around and making sure I was alone. I inhaled deeply, forming the words in my head and then speaking. "I know Ava's mother was on base with her while I was on my way here. And I know Grace probably kept her away from Selfridge and Quaritch. But there's got to be some way of finding out what happened to her for the three months I was there. I need to know her, Norm. I think Ava's survival here might depend on it. Neytiri knew Amelia, Norm. I'm almost positive of it, and if she did, then I need to know her too. Can you do that for me, Norm?"

"I'll have to look deeper into the archives," Norm said. "We had to decrypt a lot of information just to find what we found. It might take a little while, and I'll have to bring it out there to you. Is that gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," I said, hearing the brush around me moving and then rising to look around. "Just touch down where you did before. And call me before you leave there, so I can meet you."

"Are you sure everything's okay out there?" Norm asked.

I thought for a minute about telling him my dreams, but I didn't need him to study me or the reason why I felt like my strings were being pulled by an unknown force. I honestly didn't know why I felt like that, but I'd figure it out on my own. "Yeah," I said again. "I'm sure."

"Okay. Give me the day, and I'll call you when I know something."

"Thanks."

"No problem," he said as the brush moved again, and I moved toward the noise, discovering Ava there by herself.

I took off the comm as she rose to face me, and she spoke softly.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"How'd you know I was out here?"

She smiled. "You're about as stealthy as a Rhinoceros."

I smiled, still keeping an eye out around us. "And here I thought I was being quiet. You must have super hearing or something." I took her hand in mine, pulling her back toward the village. "Come on. You've probably got a big day ahead of you."

She didn't say anything, allowing me to pull her back to the tree where the earliest villagers were starting to come out.

"What will you do today?" Ava asked as we made our way toward the center of the village where Eyreal and Tu'San were emerging slowly.

"Don't worry about me," I told her. "You just go on. I'll be here when you get back."

She stepped away from me, and I realized she was already carrying her bow. Tu'San nodded for her to follow him, and they left. Eyreal moved to my side, whispering softly.

"Do I follow them?" she asked.

I waited until they were a good distance away, responding quietly. "Yes. For now."

She bowed her head. _"Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu."_

She looked around, following Tu'San and Ava away from the village. I didn't want to know what they were going to be doing, but I knew I'd find out when they all came back that night. I guessed the only difference now was there was no video log to do at 2200 at night right after getting out of link. I could wait all day, and that meant I had to find something to do.

It wasn't easy.

Mo'at seemed to watch me all day, like she was making sure I didn't go off to watch Ava, and she rarely let me out of her sight, even while I was meeting with other members of the Clan. I tried not to be offended by her gaze, but it was difficult for me to wait and looked like I wasn't waiting. I didn't want to undermine Ava's training or her trainer, but I was having trouble believing that Tu'San was capable of the tolerance Neytiri had been capable of with me ten years earlier. And I knew the first time Ava came back bloody I was going to lose it right then and there.

I didn't have to wait long for that, even if it turned out to not be her blood.

As they'd done the day before, Ava and Tu'San returned just as the light was fading and everyone was gathering for the evening meal. Even from a distance, I could see blood covering her face and smeared over her chest, and I was angry almost instantly, leaving where I'd planted myself and hurrying toward them.

"You son of a bitch," I yelled, going for his throat and pulling my knife on him. "What the hell is this?"

Eyreal stopped me. _"Rutxe,"_ she exclaimed, grabbing my arm and pulling the knife from Tu'San's throat. "He no do this," she told me.

"What happened?" I demanded.

"A _nantang_ attack them," she said. "I kill before it hurt her. But he hurt."

I then noticed a large leaf bandage covering his shoulder, and I stepped back, replacing my knife. _ "Oe tsap'alute si,"_ I whispered bowing my head. I was so embarrassed.

Tu'San's look of disdain was enough to make me feel stupid, but he didn't say anything, walking passed me toward the gathering of people already there.

Ava moved to my side, speaking softly. "That was nice," she said to me.

"I'm acting stupid about this," I responded, huffing loudly. "How is he acting out there? How could one of those things get close enough to the two of you to attack? He's supposed to be watching everything."

I didn't wait for her to respond, moving toward the gathering and finding Mo'at there with Thomas. I moved closer to her, beckoning her to follow me as I returned to where Ava was still standing with Eyreal.

"I'm begging you," I said to Mo'at. "Please let me teach her. Tu'San doesn't understand how dangerous it is out there for her."

"Jake," Ava protested. "It's okay."

"No, it isn't." I didn't care about appearances anymore. I didn't care that I was being stupid. Ava's safety was my responsibility, and if Tu'San wasn't going at least try to keep her safe while they were out in the forest, someone had to.

"Your actions are strange to me," Mo'at said finally. "You're acting as she is yours. A child to you."

"_Ma tsahik,"_ Eyreal said, and we all looked at her. "Tu'San no know to watch her. She no like him." She sighed, frustrated. I knew what she was trying to say, and I looked at Mo'at.

"Tu'San doesn't know to watch out for her. She's not like him. She's not like any of us here. She needs someone who will know how to teach her and keep her safe. Please. Allow me this one thing. I need to do it. For Neytiri."

That turned Mo'at's eyes cold, and she stepped closer to me. "It has been decided. He is her teacher."

I bowed my head, defeated.

"But perhaps you are correct. She is not like any of us. If she requires the protection you say, then you will be the one to protect her. This is the last time we will discuss this matter."

She left me there, and I looked at Ava, but I could tell she wasn't happy. I didn't like it either, but it was the only way I could think of to keep her safe. Eyreal stepped up to my side then.

"You be too hard on him," she said softly.

I looked at her, knowing she was probably right. "We'll have to work on that then. And I'll help you with your English. Tomorrow."

I took Ava's hand then, pulling her toward the gathering. Eyreal followed me silently.

The comm unit was crackling with Norm's voice when I made it back to the alcove with Thomas and Ava, and while I sent them out onto the mat, I stepped back to a dark corner to talk to him.

"Norm, I'm here."

"I've been calling you for forty-five minutes," he complained.

I glanced at Thomas and Ava. "I was . . . eating."

"Oh. Right. Um, Max and me worked all day. It took a lot of coaxing the computer on his part, but we found most of Amelia's logs."

"Were there a lot?" I asked.

Norm sighed loudly. "That is an understatement. But Jake, listen, I don't know if you should see these."

"Why not? Even if she hated my guts for what I did, I'm the one taking care of her daughter now. I need to know what I did."

"Jake, it's about the way she died. I just don't think you should see these logs."

I glanced at Ava as she sat over the mat waiting for me. "How did Amelia die?" I asked softly.

Norm was quiet for a few seconds, and I retreated deeper into the corner. Finally, he spoke. "After we escaped with Trudy, and after Grace died, she tried to get Ava off the base. With all the trees she planted, I guess she thought it was possible for Ava to jump to one of the trees on the other side. But she got caught outside without a mask on, and I guess they thought she would die anyway. So they shot her."

He paused, allowing me to process this. I'd feared something like this. The idiots on that base who didn't know any better probably thought she was trying to escape with us traitors. But there was more. And I knew that. It didn't matter if Norm thought me looking at those was a bad idea. I was the only one who could decide what I could handle. And if I was going to be taking care of Ava, I needed to know those things.

"And that's not all," Norm continued. "Max says he thinks it's possible Trudy knew about this too. I mean, she was here when we got here, so I guess it is possible. And she did fly us and all the others everywhere. I haven't looked at the majority of these logs, but I'm begging you, man. Just leave it alone."

"I can't," I said after a minute. "This is important, Norm. I need to do it for Ava, and for myself. It's okay. Just bring them out here. I'll decide what to do with them. All right?"

Norm was quiet again, and I kept my eyes on Ava while I waited. "All right," he said softly. "It'll be morning though. I've been up all day, and I gotta get some rest. I'll call you when I leave. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good night."

"You too," I said, putting the comm unit away and then stepping out onto the mat to sit with Ava.

"Is that how you see me?" she asked softly.

"Like what?"

"Like your child," she said, reminding me of what Mo'at had said earlier. Honestly, I hadn't thought of it that way, but I could understand why anyone would think that way.

"I feel very protective of you," I told her, easing my hand over her arm gently. "I felt that way before I knew about your mother and my brother. And I know you can take care of yourself. But now that you're here, you don't have to do it by yourself."

"So you don't feel possessive of me in any way?" she asked, a grin tugging at the left side of her mouth.

I glanced at Thomas to see him sleeping, and I looked at her, shrugging my shoulders. "Maybe just a little. There's so much I have to know, and there's so much you need to know. I don't want you to feel slighted. You deserve to be here. You've earned it after all the time you spent out there alone. You deserve to belong somewhere."

She inhaled deeply, glancing around and then laying over the mat. She didn't say anything else, closing her eyes and relaxing before she fell asleep. I laid down in front of her, easing as close to her as I could and looking around to see everyone else settling in for the night. I thought about Amelia while I was laying there, wondering about how she'd reacted to me being on base and then turning her life upside down. I don't think I'd ever looked at it that way.

You'd think I would've gotten used to having strange dreams lately, but the one I had that night was even stranger than any others I'd had before. I was walking through the forest at midday by myself, but everything looked a lot bigger than it should have. The ground was cool against my feet, and it felt like it was going to rain. I don't think I was going anywhere in particular, but after a few minutes, the sky exploded with water as large wings and a massive torso closed in on me and landed in front of me.

My _ikran_ emerged from the giant leaves around me, and when I reached out to touch him, I was shocked to see a small Human hand extended in front of me. Without meaning to, I retreated from him, looking at my hand and then my arm. It was no longer blue, but pink, like Human skin. I looked at my other hand, seeing the same thing, and then I looked at the rest of me.

My chest had hair on it, and I was wearing shorts. I still had on the same armbands and leg bands as before. But I was in my Human body, instead of the one I was in and had been in for ten years. The only problem was I hadn't walked in that body for ten years, and it was in the ground near the Tree of Souls. And plus, I'd hadn't walked in that body before then for over a year. How was I walking in it now?

"_Are you coming or what?"_

I looked ahead of me, seeing someone on the _ikran_, and I was shocked to see . . . me riding on its back. I moved forward slowly, allowing the large, blue man to lift me onto the flying beast, and he did so easily, yelling for take-off the way I always did and lifting into the sky abruptly.

"_Hold on."_

I held on for dear life, feeling the rain and wind in my face as we flew over the forest.

"_So what do you think?"_

I couldn't say anything, afraid and curious and exhilarated all at once. I was also confused. How was this possible?

Light shined in my eyes then, but the voice I heard didn't belong to Ava or Thomas as it spoke to me. Strangely enough, I could hear Norm talking to me, but he was saying the strangest things, a lot like the words I'd heard the first time I'd opened my eyes in my avatar.

"_Pupils equal and reactive. Heart rate and blood pressure normal. How long has it been since we took him out?"_

"_About two hours,"_ Max said, and I was sure I was still dreaming.

"_How much longer?"_

"_I don't know, Norm. We weren't waiting for him to take up the last time. He'll wake up when he's ready."_

* * *

"Jake."

Ava's voice pulled me out of my unconsciousness, and I opened my eyes to see her sitting above me. I could feel her fingertips on my forehead and then my cheek.

"Something's wrong, isn't it?" she asked.

I was disoriented for several more seconds, and she moved to be on her knees, taking my hand and pulling me to sit up in front of her. It was light out, still early in the morning, but Thomas was gone, and most of the other hammocks and mats were empty.

"Jake," she said again. "I couldn't wake you. Is something wrong . . . with you?"

I honestly didn't know, since I hadn't done this in ten years — when I'd been linking to my avatar. I started to stand up, but I was still disoriented, unable to stay on my feet without stumbling toward the alcove. Ava followed me, helping me to a stump to sit down. This felt wrong, being unable to walk or even think without someone or something else saying it was okay to do it. I felt like I had strings tethered to my arms and my legs, and there was someone out there pulling me the way they wanted me to go.

"What . . . time is it?" I asked softly, thinking how stupid it was to ask that when there was no way for her to tell me.

"It's still early. But we should probably get down there before anyone comes up here looking for us. Jake," she said, touching my face and making me look at her. "Are you sure you're okay? You didn't look okay."

I got my bearings back slowly, rising to stand in front of her. "I have to talk to Norm first. Don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine."

As if on cue, the comm unit came to life with Norm's voice, and I gathered it up as he called for me.

"Jake, you there?"

"I'm here," I said softly, looking at Ava as she waited.

"I've got everything you need," he said. "I should be here in a few hours. I just want to make sure this is what you want to do."

"I'm sure," I said without skipping a beat.

Norm sighed softly. "All right. I'll see you in a few."

I turned off the comm unit, taking Ava's hand to pull her to the base of the tree where most of the people there were already milling around in their activities. I saw Tu'San waiting near the edge of the village, and I had to hope that Mo'at had told him what she'd decided the night before. I didn't really care how that made him feel, but I figured I was going to have to work with him on this. Some kind of compromise was going to have to be made.

* * *

**Another chapter put to bed. Some answers and more questions. Do we think we know what's going on yet?**

**Now for the definitions:**

**_pa'li - direhorse_**

_**swirä - creature**_

_**tsahik - Matriarch, interpreter of Eywa**_

_**Ma Tu'San, awngeyä fya'ori sì li nga sänume sivi poe . . . fte tsivun pilvlltxe si tiviran na ayoeng. - Tu'San, you will teach her our ways . . . to speak and walk as we do. (This is long, but fashioned from the movie like a few other phrases. As with those, it seemed to fit, and since the movie is considered canon, I like to use it whenever possible to get the point across.)**_

_**Ruxte - please**_

_**Fi'u lehrrap - This is dangerous.**_

_**Kehe - No**_

_**(Despite looking on several sites and having several sources, there is no word in Na'vi for punish. So I think even though I'm sure the action wouldn't be foreign to Mo'at, the word probably would be. I have yet to find any word for it, but if you know of one, let me know.)**_

_**Irayo - Thank you**_

_**Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu - Goodbye for now and Eywa be with you.**_

_**nantang - viperwolf**_

_**Oe tsap'alute si - I apologise (apologize).**_

_**ikran - mountain banshee**_

**A LOT of definitions this time, just like last time, but that's to be expected when we're in the thick of the Clan where most people will be speaking the native tongue. Also, I wonder if anyone's noticed what happens sometimes when Jake dreams. This is the third time he's done it, and there's a very good reason for it.**

**Anyway, the next couple of parts should be very interesting, but for now, I'll leave you to it.**

**Until next time, Carry on!  
**


	13. Compromises

**All right, people. Here we are. Ava's training. I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations. I think it's a good chapter. And I also want to take this opportunity to thank one of my reviewers for the suggestion about Ava's training. Without this little nudge, this chapter or the next one would not have been written.**

**Also. I do not own Avatar. But I do think James Cameron is a genius for creating the universe. It's even better than Titanic.**

**Read on!  
**

* * *

_**Compromises**_

Tu'San saw me almost immediately after I saw him, and he waited for me to arrive in front of him before he spoke in plain English.

"You have disrespected me," he accused, his lip curled in a snarl.

I bowed my head, looking at Ava and seeing Eyreal coming toward us. "I meant no disrespect, brother," I argued. "But you have to understand. Her differences are obvious to you now, but your behavior remains unchanged. You can't act like her safety is less important than her understanding. You will teach her," I said, laying my hand over his chest lightly. I touched my own chest. "But so will I. Is it possible for us to agree on this one thing?"

I felt like it was ten years ago, and I was having to prove myself all over again. But I'd already accepted Ava's place with me, and it was important for him to do it too.

He saw Eyreal then, and his demeanor changed. _"Oel ngati kameie."_ He looked at me. "Agreed," he said grudgingly.

I nodded again. "Thank you. We can go now, but I have to make a stop before we get too far away."

I glanced at Eyreal and then Ava, and Tu'San allowed me to lead the way from everyone else. I figured we'd have to walk until I could hear the chopper, but the clearing Norm had landed in was only five kilometers from the village. I knew it wouldn't take more than a few hours to get there. I didn't know whether or not to prepare Eyreal and Tu'San for Norm's arrival, but Ava did it for me.

"What are we going to do until Norm gets here?" she asked, and the hiss I heard from Tu'San prompted me to speak.

"We'll figure that out when we get there, okay?" I told her.

She glanced at Eyreal, and then she looked at me and nodded.

While we walked, I kept an eye on everything. In early morning light, the forest looked like any other forest that had been on Earth a hundred years ago, except here, everything was about twice the size and looked like it could kill you if it landed on top of you. I knew that from experience. The trees hid the sky, allowing in only a little light from above that was enough to see where we were going. Streams of light highlighted smaller plants and flowers, and I pointed some of them out to Ava like I'd done in the garden at the compound.

I didn't want to impose on Tu'San's place to teach her those things, but if he wasn't going to take the initiative, then I had to. He didn't really seem all that worried with teaching her little things, and I had to make it obvious that if he didn't, I would. After about an hour of us walking and me talking to Ava about the trees around her, he took it upon himself to take the lead even though he didn't appear to know where we were going. I knew he was being stubborn since I was there, but Eyreal didn't mind his attitude. She stayed next to me while I talked to Ava.

"How long did it take you to learn all this?" Ava asked me while we walked.

I glanced at Eyreal, keeping my voice soft. "A lot longer than the three months it took me to be accepted into the Clan, and even that was what a lot of people would have called a miracle. But I absorbed it like a sponge. I guess my life really was empty when I got here. Or well, when Neytiri found me."

I knew I hadn't explained much about my life before I'd been in the Clan to Ava, but she hadn't asked, and since so little time had passed since Neytiri's death, I wasn't really in the mood to talk about it. But I knew I would have to tell her eventually.

A small sound caught my attention then, and I stopped, looking around and then looking at Eyreal.

"Do you hear it?" I asked, grinning slightly.

She nodded, looking around too.

"Tu'San," I called, and he stopped, looking at me. I nodded off to the west, moving in that direction without telling him where I was going. Ava and Eyreal followed me a moment before he did.

"Where are we going?" Ava asked, following me closely as I advanced quickly.

I gestured for her to be quiet, and she glanced around without saying anything else. And then I could see by the look on her face that she could hear what I was hearing. Eyreal and Tu'San caught up to us quickly, and I slowed down, kneeling to the ground and then beginning to crawl closer to the noises coming from the brush. I smiled at Ava as we arrived at the huge trunk of a moss-covered tree, silently telling her to be quiet as I pulled back the leaves to reveal a mother _nantang_ and her cubs. The animals reminded me of the several things Neytiri had shown me, and I wanted this to be one of the things I showed Ava.

"They look so peaceful," she said softly, watching the cubs play as the mother kept watch over them.

"Every living creature in the forest is peaceful," I told her, glancing at Tu'San as he observed. "We hunt for food. We never attack anyone or anything unprovoked. It's our way, Ava. We live in peace with the forest."

"So I should probably apologize for wanting to attack you earlier when you wouldn't wake up?"

I looked at her, seeing a grin on her face, and I realized her sense of humor was almost as extensive as mine. I smiled too. "No," I said with a light chuckle. Then I added, "But it probably wouldn't hurt."

I didn't really know how long we sat there, but when I heard the turbines on the chopper closing in on us, I knew we had to move. I looked at Ava, seeing her with the same look on her face. Then she looked at me.

"Do you trust me?" she asked.

For the first time in several days, I remembered that when I'd first seen her, I hadn't really given her enough time to know I wasn't going to hurt her, but in a short period of time I'd gained her trust. It was only fair to give her mine. I glanced at Eyreal, seeing a curious look on her face. Then I looked at Ava. "Absolutely."

She smiled and looked up into the trees, easing back away from the animals we'd been watching and then easily finding a way into the trees. Tu'San followed her since it looked like he knew where she was going. Eyreal did after a minute, and then I followed, watching them climb quickly until we were all surrounded by the branches as we made our way toward the sound of the chopper.

I caught up to them easily, running along the large, mangled branches of the trees and instantly remembering all the running Neytiri and I had done over the three months she'd been teaching me. It hadn't taken me long to realize how far up into the trees we really were, but following her back to the ground had been the big deal, especially when she would leap off and fly into the canopy without a care in the world. I always had trouble with that one.

But Ava looked completely at ease running along with using the vines to help her get across the branches as we made our way to the clearing. I realized it didn't have anything to do with Tu'San or me. She'd been living in the forest for a long time. She probably knew it better than I did, since that was very possible.

We made it to the clearing just as Norm was coming in for his landing, and Ava jumped first, catching a few vines and even a few leaves to make her way down as Eyreal followed her immediately. It took a little self-coercion on my part to do the same, but it looked like Tu'San had to same wariness, so it was good to see I wasn't the only one who hesitated. We followed after a minute, taking the same route, and I'll admit my landing was just as bad as usual. What made it worse was Norm watching from the chopper, and he laughed.

We waited for him to turn the turbines off, and I led the way to where he was coming out of the cabin with a pack in his hands. He smiled when he saw Ava, and she smiled at him, reaching out to touch his face. Then he saw Tu'San and Eyreal.

"Well, I wasn't expecting a welcoming party," he said, stepping down from the chopper as I knelt in front of him. Even doing that, I was still able to look him in the eye as he opened the pack for me. "I thought this would be easier since we can't have Max rotate the information on the pads," he told me, revealing a set of pads that each looked like they were carrying a year's worth of logs along with information about Ava's growth.

"Is this everything?" I asked him softly.

"It's everything we could find," he confirmed, adding, "I still don't think you should look at these. There's probably stuff on here you don't need to know. I thought we learned a long time ago not to relive the past to learn about the future."

I knew he was talking about everything that had happened just after the war. We'd all decided to live from that point on and not think about anything that had passed. But this was different.

"I'm not reliving my past," I told him. "This is something I have to do, and it won't interfere with anything else."

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking at Ava and then Eyreal and Tu'San. "Because it looks like it's already interfered with a lot, Jake."

"I'm sure," I told him, not arguing but not confirming anything he said. I reached for the pack, and he gave it to me slowly. I thought for a second about giving it to Ava, but with her being so much smaller than me, I didn't want her to worry about losing it, so I pulled it on and secured the strap around my waist. "What else have you and Max found out about Ava? About how she was made?"

Norm sighed softly, leaning back against the chopper. "We're still looking at chemicals and DNA markers. Max said some of the information was damaged after we . . . escaped, and it's taking a long time to put all of it together so the computer can read it. The way she was made is dramatically different from how they made our avatars. Since her mother carried her, they had to give her injections that would allow her body to keep from miscarrying after the first trial failed."

The hesitant look on Norm's face piqued my curiosity, and I leaned in closer. "What are you not saying?" I asked softly.

He glanced at Ava, also lowering his voice. "Her mother couldn't have anymore children," he said gravely. "After she had Ava, her body wasn't capable of carrying a human baby."

I realized this was one of the things he didn't want me to know, and I also knew by his tone that he'd discovered this himself because of what was on these logs he'd brought me. But I'd already set out to do this, and I couldn't stop now just because I might learn something painful or even unbearable. Amelia had gone through all of it, and now I had to. For Ava's sake, if no one else's.

"It's okay, Norm," I told him, laying my hand over his shoulder. "She's my responsibility now. Not yours or Max's. We've got a long day ahead of us, so you should probably go. Keep looking. I'll call you if I need you."

He glanced at Ava, and I could tell he felt sorry about what had happened to her, but he didn't say anything, climbing back into the chopper and strapping into the cockpit with his pack situated in his lap so he could put it on during the flight back to base. He bowed his head good-bye, and I backed away from the chopper with Ava and Eyreal behind me. Norm started up the turbines then, getting the engine up and then lifting off the forest floor to leave the area. I watched until he was gone, turning to Ava and then looking at Tu'San.

"Let's get started," I told him, nodding for him to do what he was going to do so I could do it too. Ava and Eyreal followed us closely.

* * *

The days started to bleed together, and not necessarily in a bad way. With me and Tu'San both teaching Ava different things, I worried about her not understanding any of it, but it didn't seem to bother her at all. She seemed to thrive on the newfound attention, and it was obvious she wanted to learn everything we could show her. And I wanted to teach her everything there was to teach her, especially when it felt like Tommy would have done the same thing.

Every day, I taught her the language. She picked it up a lot faster than I did, and in quicker succession. There wasn't anything she couldn't say in English or Na'vi, and I had to admit I was a little jealous. She was a much better student than I was.

Sometimes early in the mornings, Ava and I were the only two awake, sitting high in the trees away from the village so no one would be able to disturb us. Thomas was getting a lot more adamant about sleeping by himself even though he was still a little young to be by himself so early, but I was a little helpless to stop him, especially since I was going to be spending a lot of time with Ava, so I made a deal with Eyreal to keep an eye on him too. It didn't seem to bother her at all.

"These shouldn't be hard," I said softly, touching my feet and then my toes and having her follow instantaneously.

"_Venu_," she said wrapping her hands around my feet and adding, "_venzek_," as she wiggled my toes. I didn't think anyone had done that since I was a baby, as a human anyway.

"These," I said holding my hands in front of her.

"_Tsyokx_," she named laying her palms against mine, and I slid my fingers through hers prompting her to speak more softly. "_Zekwä_."

Her smile faded slightly even though she didn't let go of my hands.

I released her hands gently, moving my hands to her arms, prompting her again silently.

"_Pxun_," she said, lifting her hands to my forearms.

I smiled, laying my hand on her head, and she laughed grabbing my head. "_Re'o_," she giggled.

I touched my throat, and she followed. "_Pewn._"

"Close," I said, urging her to try again.

She absently bit her lower lip, allowing her teeth to gnaw gently. "F-lew?"

I lifted my chin, touching my throat again.

"_Flew._"

"Good," I appraised, unconsciously still holding my hand over her arm.

"Do it again," she requested, moving my hand away and prompting me to start again.

I did so happily.

Eyreal found us most mornings while we were sitting there, and even though I knew she only wanted to observe, watching Ava with me seemed to awaken a part of her she never got to use very often. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed she was one of the better hunters in the village, but I guess I'd had other things on my mind.

When there was a word even I couldn't pronounce or utilize properly, Eyreal always seemed to be there to help. And with Tu'San remaining stalwart about my involvement with Ava's training, I took all the help I could get. Moving on to the more complicated words and phrases took a little more time, and even though it didn't bother Ava to have to learn more slowly than she'd learned with Norm, she still picked it up as quickly as I could teach it to her.

But there were moments when it seemed like she lost a piece of the puzzle she was working on in her head. She would learn a word or a phrase, and then she would lose some of the light I always liked seeing in her eyes. And I knew she was always thinking about her mother. I was always thinking about Tommy, and in that way, we were both still kind of grieving for these two people we'd loved and lost too suddenly.

_Blood_ wasn't a very good word for her to learn, especially when I came back with a gash in my arm from struggling with the hooves of a _talioang_. It looked worse than it really was, but Ava seemed to be overwhelmed by the sight of the gash while it was mended and wrapped.

"It's okay," I said to her. "I should have been watching what was going on. Neytiri was always telling me I would end up getting hurt if I didn't pay attention."

The healer wrapping my arm spoke softly as she wrapped tightly, and even though I caught most of what she said as she chastised me for being careless, I looked at Ava to see a far away look in her eyes as she sat next to me with her hand gripping at my shoulder.

"It's just blood, Ava," I said softly. "I'll be fine in a few days."

"Blood," she repeated still looking at my arm.

"_Reypay_," I whispered. "Probably not the greatest lesson for the day, but it's okay," I promised as the healer finished, releasing me from her intense gaze and allowing me to leave with Ava.

"Have you ever seen blood before?" I asked Ava as I walked her through the village to where Tu'San was waiting.

She was silent while we walked, and for whatever reason, I only just then thought about her mother.

"Ava," I said, turning her to face me as she held her eyes down. "Have you seen blood on someone else before? Someone like your mother?"

I watched two thick tears slide down her cheeks, and I touched her chin with my finger, lifting her face until she was looking at me. I hadn't even thought it was possible for her to have seen her mother be shot. I didn't even want to think of what kind of monster shot someone's mother in front of them. But watching her gaze at me sadly made me grossly aware of it. And I had no way of comforting her or protecting her from the memories I'd forced to the surface of her mind.

I laid my hands over her shoulders, allowing her to lift her hands to my arms. "It's okay," I whispered. "You've been through enough without me adding to it. I understand. I really do. Come on. Your instructor's waiting for us."

She wiped her eyes slowly, and I turned her back in the direction we'd been going to meet Tu'San as he waited with horses for us to ride.

"We will be riding and running today," he said sternly. "Surely, _olo'eyktan_ have better things to do than endurance exercise."

I smirked, glancing at Ava and then lifting my eyes to his. "I can take anything you can give," I challenged.

He smiled, showing his teeth and then laughing. "Very well."

I knew it was going to be a while before I trusted him any more than I had to, and until then, he could just consider me his shadow for the time being.

I'd never really liked riding horses, whether they were carrying me somewhere important or not. But in ten years, I'd learned to respect their uses, especially in the training of new hunters. Neytiri had always enjoyed watching me try to ride when I'd first started learning from her, but honestly, I think it was because I screwed up a lot and fell off every horse she ever put me on. Thankfully, it hadn't taken me too long to learn _not_ to fall off the horses.

Ava already knew how to ride, and I knew she'd already impressed Tu'San with her ability to guide her _pa'li_ without having to shout instructions at it. But the idea was to do so without thinking, and I knew she was still learning to do that. So being there to watch her ride with Tu'San actually made my nerves a little frayed, especially when she absently began holding onto the horse's queue.

"Ava," I said from behind her. "Lean into the saddle. You'll have better balance that way."

I watched her try to lean forward and then backward, but she lost her grip easily, tumbling off the side of the horse and falling to her hands and knees. I stopped immediately, dismounting my own horse and hurrying to her side.

She hissed sharply, cradling her hands against her and settling back on her calves as I reached her.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly, watching Tu'San dismount his horse and come toward us.

"No time to pause for mistakes," he complained. "Long way to go."

"She's hurt," I exclaimed, holding her hands with mine as slivers of blood began to seep through the scrapes on her palms.

"Hunting is dangerous," he pressed. "If she cannot take small injury, how will she handle bigger prey when it smells her blood or her sweat?"

Even with tears in her eyes, Ava began to get up. "I'm okay," she said, rising to her feet and stumbling.

I caught her quickly, glancing at her legs and seeing blood begin to stream down her shins. I couldn't keep from gritting my teeth, glaring up at Tu'San as he watched with a sneer on his face.

"She says she is okay," he said, remaining unaffected by her stubbornness. "I am her teacher. I will decide what she can handle."

"Well, if you're her teacher, then teach her," I shouted in his face. "Have you even shown her how to do this correctly? Or have you simply decided she'll follow you without worrying about herself if she gets hurt? Do it right," I demanded. "The way you would any other you're training."

He huffed, grudgingly taking note of her injuries and proceeding to search for make-shift bandages for her hands and knees. I waited with her while he looked, keeping her hands elevated as I sat her on the ground. She never said anything, allowing me to remain close while Tu'San carefully cleaned and then wrapped her palms and knees to keep them protected. He found water from a nearby plant, using it to clean dirt and blood from her shins and then her face before he allowed her to drink what was left.

He looked at me as he finished, helping her to her feet and giving her the chance to reconnect with her horse so she could grab the saddle and climb back into her previous position.

"Horse is extension of own body," he told her, taking her hands and placing them over the horse's shoulders. "He do what you tell him to do. He know only to follow you. Hold body firmly for proper balance. If you afraid, he also afraid. _Txopu rä'ä si._"

She glanced at me, bowing her head slightly as she directed her attention toward her _pa'li_ and urging him on slowly. He didn't wait, and neither did I, moving back to my own horse and mounting easily to follow her.

Though I didn't intentionally keep up with how far or how long we rode, I kept a mental note of every time he sped up, either challenging her or me to keep up with him. And when he stopped ready to send the horses back to the village while we began our run, I knew it was close to meal time. At that point, I was sure we'd been out for nearly four hours with the rest of a long afternoon ahead of us, and if I needed to rest, I was sure Ava needed to as well. She'd endured most of the morning after her fall without complaining, but I could see the determination waning from her face, and every time her horse moved, she grit her teeth together, making her discomfort and pain obvious.

"We should stop to eat," I told Tu'San while we were stopped. "Endurance runs can take all afternoon, and if I need to rest, so does she. And so do you."

He tried to pretend he could keep going, but I could see in his eyes that he was glad for the rest. I didn't mention the fact that if he gave Ava the benefit of the doubt, I wouldn't even be with him. But I still didn't trust him, and I was pretty sure he felt like I was insulting him by simply being there.

I helped Ava while we were stopped, finding fresh wraps for her hands and knees and cleaning her wounds again also easing a pain suppressant from a plant nearby since I knew she was suffering through it in silence. I didn't ask her if she was okay. I knew she was tough, but that didn't mean she needed to struggle with her injuries.

Tu'San sent the horses back to the village while I was finishing with Ava's hands, and when he came back, Ava strapped on her bow, obviously ready for her run. I followed her lead, allowing our guide to start off in the general direction of the village. With our meal long forgotten, there was nothing else left to hinder our advancement, and if Ava could keep going, we'd probably be back to the village in time for the evening gathering.

In a strange turn-around, when we returned to the village just as the sun was going down, Eyreal was waiting for us at the center of the village where everyone was climbing to the second level for the evening meal. I absently wondered what she'd done all day after seeing me and Ava off for our ride that morning. The concerned look on her face as she observed Ava's wrapped hands and knees was enough to keep me from asking, since I was pretty sure she'd done what I'd been doing before being allowed out with Tu'San. I was still hoping to do this enough to trust him without having to tag along every time he left the village with Ava, and I hoped today had been a descent reminder that he wasn't going to be unreasonable when he knew I was watching him.

"You wrap her wounds for her," Eyreal said, lifting Ava's hands to survey the damage.

"The second time anyway," I nodded. "He did it the first time."

"She injured more than once?" she asked, the surprise in her voice impossible to miss.

"No," I said quickly. "But we rode all morning, after she was hurt. I changed them before we began our run."

Eyreal accepted this, her eyes finding Tu'San as he made his way toward where everyone else was gathering. After half a minute, she looked at me.

"I take her to bath," she said, pulling Ava through the village to clean her up for the night.

After that day, since I saw the need for Tu'San to be taught just as much as he was supposed to be teaching Ava, I made a deal with him, offering to stay in the village every other time he took her out for her runs. He grudgingly agreed, and I figured he was more interested in not having me watch him while he was supposed to be teaching her. After a few more times of the three of us trekking through the forest together, I saw his attitude start to change. For that, I was, for the time being, at least a little relieved.

Tu'San took her riding on a horse every other day, and even though I began to stay at the village with Eyreal more often, I now knew he wasn't going to let her fail when he knew it would reflect on his ability to teach her. Honestly, and I didn't tell him this, I didn't think it was possible for Ava to really fail at anything. Even when she faltered with her words, her behavior showed no more than the desire to learn anything and everything we taught her. And the times she faltered lessened every day. I could only hope that meant she was finally adjusting to life with me.

We decided to take turns with the training where tracking was concerned, and on the days when it was Tu'San's time to take Ava on the trails, I stayed in the village with Eyreal to help her with her English. And even she picked it up a lot quicker than I thought was possible. She even helped me teach Ava the language, and I made sure she knew I appreciated the help.

"Your pro-nun-si-a-shon much better than I told," Eyreal said to me one morning on our way down to the center of the village where I knew Ava was already waiting for me.

"Who told you it was bad?" I asked curiously.

"Many who were there when you first arrive. Neytiri say you 'butcher' the language when you first learn. But you learn much more since you first get here. I surprise you not good enough to teach_ 'ewan'aw_ without me."

I spotted Ava then, seeing her with Tu'San as she strapped on her bow. Since her "first" day with him and an old bow, I'd asked for her to have a newer bow with the idea that she would be less likely to get hurt by the string if it hit her. Since her "first" day out, she'd also gained an arm guard on her forearm and a beaded armband to show her place in the Clan as being trained.

"Well, unfortunately," I said to Eyreal as we walked, "English is my first language. Neytiri was a good teacher, but I wasn't a good student, even after I buckled down and really started to listening to her. I'll teach Ava anything she wants me to teach her, but there _will_ be things even I can't teach her. That's where you come in."

Though I realized how it sounded, that I was only using Eyreal's ability to supplement my short-comings, she smiled.

"I happy to teach her," she said with a light laugh, adding, "and you."

"And I'm happy for you to do that."

We arrived at Ava's side then, and even though I could tell Tu'San wasn't finished with whatever he'd been telling her, he simply looked at me and stepped back, effectively relinquishing Ava's training to me for the day.

Eyreal stepped closer to Ava then, wishing her luck and ironically clear senses for the next several hours, and then she looked at me, bowing her head and moving away from us so we could leave.

"We'll be on foot today," I said to Ava, urging her forward through the village to the grove behind Hometree.

It was becoming overcast, and I could smell rain nearby. But I didn't think that would be a problem. Tracking in the rain would prove to be a good lesson for Ava, just as it had been for me.

"When am I going to get my own knife?" Ava asked as we walked away from the village and made our way into the thick underbrush of the forest surrounding Hometree.

I glanced back at her, and she moved closer to me while still remaining behind me. I grinned. "When you've earned it," I said simply, breaking into a jog and having her follow me instantly.

My own senses didn't betray me, and it started raining probably an hour after we left Hometree. By then, we were deep in the forest but close to a trail that was frequented by several animals we usually hunted. Since starting Ava's training to track the animals around her, I'd tried to take her in different directions so she could easily know which animals to track when she was out. But I also wanted her to know how many animals used the trails, how they moved to avoid each other and how they interacted with each other. I could only hope Tu'San was doing the same thing, but I never asked him what he taught her, as long as he did it the right way.

Even with the wet ground, the trail was easy to follow, as well as easy to keep hidden by the animals that used it. But learning to read them was the key to using them. And the key to reading them was the ability to disappear within them. Neytiri had spent a lot of time teaching me to read the trails, and I wanted Ava to learn as much as I had, no matter how long it took.

The first time I saw something of interest, I stopped along the side of the trail and beckoned Ava to me. She followed silently, kneeling beside me as I laid my fingers over an impression in the mud. I knew what could have left a footprint like this, and I knew what direction it would be going from this spot. I looked at Ava, prompting her to look at the footprint. I watched her face turn determined as she also touched the trail, her ears pitched forward as she listened carefully.

"_Pa'li_," she whispered.

"Close," I nodded. "Not nearly as big. Look again."

She looked around again, leaning closer and smelling the footprint — or hoofprint to be more accurate, and then she looked at me again. "_Yerik_," she said certainly.

"How many?" I asked.

"Six," she said, touching the trail again. "An adult male and female and four calves. A family unit."

"Going which direction?"

"Northeast," she insisted.

I smiled. "Good. Think you can follow them from here?"

Her smile mirrored mine, and she took the lead without me saying anything else.

After tracking the small group to a clearing and watching them graze, I decided it was time to get back to the village, knowing it would take most of the afternoon to get back and hoping the rain was finished by the time we got back. I didn't have to think about what Tu'San or Eyreal had done all day. Since it seemed they were just as invested in her success as I was, I knew they'd be wanting to know how she was doing.

Ava was tired but happy when we got back to the village, oddly enough, and I had to admit to myself that I was happy too. I hadn't been happy since losing Neytiri, and it felt right to feel this way with Ava, especially with as well as she was learning. I let her go bathe while I spoke with Mo'at about the coming evening gathering that was already underway, and I found myself keeping an eye out for Ava in case she needed something. She was clean when she found me, and we all made our way up to the second level to get something to eat.

"You're getting really good with the tracking," I told Ava while we walked. "You'll be impressing Tu'San before too long."

Ava blushed, bowing her head but not saying anything.

After eating, I walked Ava and Thomas up into the tree so they could sleep for the night, and since I knew Thomas had also had a big day, I wasn't surprised to see both of them lay down together and fall asleep almost instantly. As soon as I knew it was safe, I pulled out the pack Norm had given me with all of the electronic pads, finding the one I'd been looking at the night before to start again.

I remembered the last one I'd watched on the base, seeing Ava born in the ambient room of the lab, and the next one had been nearly a week later.

"_Grace hasn't really said how we're going to do this,"_ she said into the video log with what looked like tears in her eyes and dark circles underneath them. _"I still don't know how we're going to do this. How are we supposed to keep a newborn baby from being noticed by the guards and security officers and technicians and Max? I mean, I know he's seen me, but he doesn't really know me. I don't really go around looking for things to do in the lab. I let Grace tell me what to do, and that way, people can't really question why I'm here. I look like everyone else here. She's already told me not to hold out for any reprieve as far as babysitters go. But I've gotten volunteers. Leaving Ava with anyone but Lisa or Warren or even Grace just seems strange right now."_

She never talked about Tommy. But I could tell she missed him and thought about him a lot. Every time she talked about Ava and how much she was growing, Amelia would get this look in her eye that reminded me of a woman who had lost her fiancé in the war. He would always be alive to her, but she knew somewhere inside her that he was gone. I couldn't feel the same way. I'd actually seen Tommy dead inside the box he'd been burned in, so there was no hope for me. But Amelia still had hope. And I wanted so much for her to never lose that.

Ava grew fast over the years she was in the compound, and it looked like she flourished there. I couldn't believe what I saw, but it was right there in full color. There was no denying who Ava belonged to, and every time I looked at Ava, all I could think about was how she'd lost everything she knew the day I came to the base. I'd never felt that way before, and I didn't like it.

* * *

**And on that note, I'll let you decide what's going to happen next. And hopefully I'll be finished with the second half of this soon.**

**Now for the definitions.**

**_Oel ngati kameie - I See you._**

**_Nantang - viperwolf_**

**_Venu - feet_**

**_Venzek - toes_**

**_Tsyokx - hands_**

_**Zekwä - fingers**_

_**Pxun - Arm**_

_**Re'o - Head**_

_**Pewn - neck**_

_**Flew - Throat**_

_**Talioang - Sturmbeest**_

_**Reypay (Ray-pie) - Blood**_

_**Olo'eyktan - Clan Leader**_

_**Pa'li - Direhorse**_

_**Txopu rä'ä si - Have no fear (quite literally Fear do not do)**_

_**'ewan'aw - Young one (Ava)**_

_**Yerik - Hexapede**_

**LOTS of definitions. Hope you were all able to keep up. I know I have to write them all down.**

**Again, Thank you for all the alerts, favorites and reviews. I really appreciate all of them and enjoy seeing what everyone thinks of the story.**

**Until next time, Keep Calm & Carry on!  
**


	14. Compromises II

**Here we are with the second part of Ava's training. There's a little more "other" kinds of stuff going on here besides her training. I think it goes relatively good.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, alerts and favorites. I really hope everyone likes this chapter. I know I really liked writing it.**

**As usual, I don't own Avatar. I do however own Ava, Eyreal and Tu'San and any other characters that don't look familiar.**

**Read on!  
**

* * *

_**Compromises, Part II**_

On the days when Ava wasn't learning the language and making me look bad, and on the days when she wasn't riding with Tu'San, Eyreal would teach her to use her bow better. Mo'at had already made it very clear that I was only there to protect Ava from anything that might endanger her, so I had to hand over most of her training to the two people I'd entrusted her with. But I was still there. And even though Tu'San didn't always let me help, Eyreal was more willing to let me assist her with anything she needed. For that, I was grateful.

After I'd told Eyreal about the incident in the river the day I'd found Ava, I was a little surprised to see that there were only a few things she decided to do to help Ava with the bow she was given. I couldn't remember how Ava had been holding the bow or how she'd aimed. All I could remember was that she'd saved my life. I didn't know how significant that was, but it looked important to Eyreal.

"'_Ewan'aw_ is strong with bow," she said as I watched her stand in front of Ava who was holding a bow in her hands the way all Na'vi held their bows. "She save _olo'eyktan's_ life in 'heat of moment.' But she forget proper way to hold bow. Killing prey and defense of victim separate things. She must learn difference between defense of victim and providing village with proper kill for food."

Ava didn't say anything about what was being said. I was surprised that she didn't complain or even ask questions. I'd asked Neytiri a lot of questions about when I would be able to make a kill and when I could do more than just practice. It had taken almost two months before I'd been given that opportunity, but I'd been working at a fairly quick pace since I'd had a timetable. Ava didn't have a deadline, so I wanted her to understand what she was doing and why before it was time for her to make her first kill. I didn't want to rush her.

"Arm higher," Eyreal instructed Ava, lifting her back arm a little higher and folding her hand tighter around the wood of the bow. "Hold stronger. Only when you hold properly will you hit prey in correct spot to kill. Must kill, not only injure. Prey get away if only injure. _Tslam?_"

Ava nodded silently, gripping her bow tighter.

Eyreal glanced at me as I sat off to the side of where they were standing. I looked around where we were, making sure we were safe. I did this more often when I was with Eyreal because I knew she understood how dangerous it still was for Ava to be out in the open. We were still trying to stay near Hometree while walking far enough away to be left alone. We hardly ever had an audience. I preferred it that way.

"Jakesully," Eyreal said softly, beckoning me to them as they stood there. "You show also," she gestured to Ava. "Tu'San only think to teach _'ewan'aw_ to ride and track and perhaps to run. She must have _tutan taronyu_ to show her proper way to hold bow."

The first thing I realized was how Eyreal had actually called me by name. She hadn't done that since I'd brought Ava back to the village after taking her to Norm. The other thing I noticed was how Ava looked at me with the kind of determination only a young woman could have when being faced with something she'd never experienced before. I stood up slowly, and Eyreal took a few steps back to take my previous place and watch the area around us while I stepped in front of Ava. I looked at the way Ava was standing and how she was holding the bow, and I could see how tense she was. I didn't know if that was because of simply doing something she'd yet to accomplish or if it was because I had to stand closer to her than I really had been as of yet.

"You need to relax," I said softly, touching her arms gently. "If you don't relax, you'll probably hurt yourself before you can kill anything. The animals around you will be able to sense if you're on edge. Relax," I whispered, laying my hands over her shoulders and gently pushing them down. "It should be easy to aim and then shoot."

She huffed softly, still flexing her shoulders and glancing at me as I moved behind her and touched her arms again. "Easy for you to say," she grumbled.

Though it should have been awkward to be so close to her, I had no trouble whatsoever lowering my hands to her back and then her waist, making her stand up straight. "Relax your hands," I said softly. "It's not target practice. Not yet. And breathe. It's very important to breathe."

She inhaled deeply, still holding her bow but flexing her fingers slowly. She glanced at me, only turning her head slightly and then exhaling sharply. "She taught you this," she said suddenly. "Didn't she?"

I was surprised, lowering my hands to my sides as she turned her head a little more to look at me with both eyes. "Yes," I said. "She did."

"And are you as good as she was?" she asked softly.

I looked at Eyreal to see a sad expression on her face as she looked away. In the time since Ava had come to the Clan, since Neytiri had died, I hadn't thought about answering a question like that. Was I as good as Neytiri? The obvious answer was 'no,' but she'd taught me everything she knew. And it was clear she'd done a much better job with me than Tu'San was doing with Ava.

"Well, she was very good," I told Ava. "She was a good hunter and a good teacher. She was also supposed to be a successor for Mo'at. Her training as _tsahik_ was probably the only thing that saved my life."

"And how long did she teach you?" Ava asked.

Again, I looked at Eyreal, thinking of the first three months I'd spent with Neytiri and her people. But it wasn't really fair to say it only took me three months to learn whatever Neytiri had been teaching me. I'd honestly been learning up until the day she'd died. "I was still learning the day I lost her," I said softly. "I'll probably be learning until the day I pass through Her Eye again."

Ava relaxed a little, and I looked at her again. "You mean when you die, don't you?" she asked softly.

"You could say that," I said gently. "But don't worry. I don't plan on dying for a very long time. I'm not going to leave you, Ava. I promise."

"Did she plan on dying?"

I didn't have an answer for her, lifting my hands again to her arms and attempting to help her relax.

"Keep breathing," I reminded her.

She looked away, wrapping her hand around the bow again.

If it had taken me three months to learn what Neytiri taught me, it took Ava less than half that, even if I made a point of not teaching her too much all at once. And she learned it so fast, with disturbing accuracy. I could have argued that _someone_ had started to teach her these things before what had happened on the base, but Grace had been a scientist. She wouldn't have known about _taronyu_.

She learned to shoot much easier than I had, even with the limited amount of time she had with the riding, running, tracking and language learning she was doing with me and Tu'San. I was still helping Eyreal with her English, and she was still helping me with Ava's Na'vi. She allowed me to accompany her every time she went out with Ava to help her with bow shooting. It was surprising since every time I went along, Ava seemed to get a little distracted. I still couldn't tell if it was Eyreal's intention for that to happen, but she always tried to involve me in Ava's shooting. It wasn't easy for me to focus either, since I always thought about Neytiri while we were out.

When Ava moved up to targets painted on leaves, I could see how much she always tried to hit the center circle. Eyreal and I both tried to teach that it wasn't that important to always hit the bulls-eye. Sometimes, it wasn't going to be that simple, and she had to learn to hit a target in the right spot, not necessarily in the center.

"How long did it take you to hit something in the right spot?" Ava asked me while we were standing several meters from her leaf target.

"Well, I was learning at a different pace than you were," I told her. "And I had a little experience with guns. So it didn't take me as long to learn how to shoot. But you don't have the time limit I did, so we can do this at the right pace."

She looked at me through her bow. "Why did you have a time limit?"

I glanced at Eyreal as she watched us. "It's a long story. One for a different time." I pointed at the target. "See if you can hit the third circle," I instructed. "On the right side."

"Why there?" she asked, pulling her bow taut.

"Sometimes, a shot that looks easy can actually be really hard. Hitting the center is easy. Try it."

She inhaled deeply, grasping the bow and then relaxing her shoulders before she aimed silently and then released her arrow. It whizzed through the air in an instant, hitting the target on the second circle instead of the third, but it was on the right side.

"Not bad," I said.

"But I can do better," she argued.

"It's okay," I told her, watching her lower her bow and then look at me.

"You are going to tell me, aren't you?" she asked, and I knew what she was talking about.

I looked at Eyreal again. "I will," I promised. "But not today. Come on. Focus. Think about shooting. Don't think about something that isn't important right now, okay?" I pleaded.

I could see she didn't really want to let the subject drop, but I tried to make it clear that we were all out here for her to learn to shoot. After that, she lifted her bow to start again, and I tried to focus on helping her shoot better. I think I hoped more than anything that she would forget, but I figured it was just too good to be true.

With Tu'San, it was purely about riding or running or tracking, and working off him, Ava was able to earn her knife after he thought she'd learned enough to earn the right to carry a weapon on her all the time. While I had chosen to carry my own knife where it was always visible by me and anyone who faced me, Ava chose the oddest place for her knife holster, asking to have it fitted for her left thigh like a side-arm. Seeing it there make me think of the security guys on base and Trudy, but I didn't tell Ava that. I wasn't really sure why she wanted it there, but the first time she had to pull it, I realized quickly how useful it was for her to have it there.

Living in the forest, you learn to survive fast or you die, and in Ava's case, she'd survived in the forest for ten years before I found her. So it was clear to me that she already knew how to survive, but I wasn't quite ready to be made grossly aware of it, especially on a day when it seemed like everything went wrong all at once. First of all, after riding out into the forest on horses with Tu'San like we'd been doing all along, a flock of tetrapterons scared the horses off while we were resting. At the point, we were too far out to catch up to them, especially when a herd of _talioang_ separated us from our ride.

At the point, we'd had no choice but to start back to the village on foot, which would have been simple, had we not run into a pack of _nantang_ that was strangely out scouting for food in the middle of the day. One of the pack decided I looked good enough to attack, kind of like one of another pack had the day I'd found Ava, and it would have been nice to defend her for once. But I no such luck, especially when one of the bigger ones lunged at me from a tree branch low to the ground.

Sharp, long teeth sank into my shoulder with the clear intention of taking a decent size chunk out of me, but before it could really dig in, Ava slung her bow into its rump, scaring it away and then pulling her knife from its holster to drive the blade into his chest. Tu'San was busy fending off the other three, and I was laying there with gashes in my arm and blood gushing from every point of entry. I honestly blacked out for a minute, but when I opened my eyes again, Ava was sitting on top of me wrapping a bandage around my shoulder. Tu'San was sitting beside her, whispering softly, and she was whispering to him, some in English, some in Na'vi, and they both agreed I'd lost a lot of blood.

"We might not make it back to the village if we walk," she said, looking at me and realizing I was awake. She laid both her hands over my face. "Jake."

"How far out are we?" I whispered hoarsely.

"Nearly ten kilometers," Tu'San informed me, helping me sit up as he passed water to me. "Your wound is very bad, and there is no place for food nearby. We should not remain on the ground much longer. Trees safer."

I was a little disoriented, but I was pretty sure he was saying we were alone, we were too far from the village to get help, and we were going to have to climb to be safe for the night. It was then I realized how late it was.

"Jake," Ava said again.

I lifted my eyes to hers. "I'm okay," I promised. "Just help me up, will you?"

She moved to stand up then, taking the hand of my uninjured arm and pulling me to my feet. I stumbled, and despite her being smaller than me, smaller than Neytiri and Eyreal, she kept me on my feet, grasping onto my waist as I pulled her into my arm.

"It's okay," I whispered. "Let's get out of the open, okay?"

I looked up at Tu'San, and he led the way to a rather tall tree that looked like it had a platform of limbs and leaves for us to sit on for the night. My shoulder was stiff, and not just because of the bandage, and it was hard to climb. But I didn't let Ava see how much it hurt. I waited until we were all safe to think about what it was going to feel like in the morning. I hadn't really been hurt like this, not even while I'd been training with Neytiri, and it really did feel unlike anything I'd experienced in the body I was in at that point. By the time it was dark and the forest was lit up all around us, it wasn't that hard for Ava to see how uncomfortable I was.

"I should have been paying attention," she insisted, sitting at my side and laying against the side of my body opposite my injured shoulder.

"This isn't your fault," I told her. "I've been doing this a lot longer than you have, and so has Tu'San. We should've been the ones to realize what was going on. No one could have predicted we'd get ambushed by three different kinds of animals. It's okay, Ava. Once we get back to the village, I'll get some proper bandages and medicine, and I'll be fine. This didn't happen because of you. Besides, this isn't the worst injury I've ever had. In fact, it's a baby one compared to the injury I got in my human body."

"What was that one like?" she asked softly.

Up until now, I'd only really given her a minimal amount of information about my previous life, and I wanted to keep as much of it to myself as I could. But she _was_ half-Human. I figured it was only natural for her to be curious.

"When I was human," I began, "I was in a war. And I was hurt. The doctors couldn't do anything because I couldn't . . . afford their help, so I was paralyzed from my waist to my feet," I explained, touching my waist and then my feet. "And I had to get around in a chair with wheels on it. I couldn't walk, Ava. Not like I do now. So like I said, this isn't that bad," I promised, nodding to my bandaged shoulder.

"The healers in the village don't have restrictions on who they help," Ava said softly. "I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want to help you so you could walk again. That doesn't make sense to me."

I pulled her closer to me, laughing softly. "It didn't make any sense to me at the time either. So don't feel bad. Now come on. Get some sleep. I'm right here, okay?"

She didn't say anything else, squeezing me in her arms and relaxing to get some sleep while Tu'San kept watch over the immediate area around us.

By morning, even though I'd told Ava that my shoulder was okay, I was actually very glad we were getting back to the village.

Since I'd been hoping to delay telling Ava the majority of information about when I'd been human and learning from Neytiri all the years before, it only seemed right that I couldn't avoid it forever. Especially with her learning and understanding so fast. I probably couldn't have avoided telling her what she wanted to know even if I'd really wanted to. And I really wanted to. So of course I was the one who actually facilitated the entire incident that allowed her to find out all about those three months I'd first spent with Neytiri and her people.

It was one of those days when I'd been out with her by myself, since both Tu'San and Eyreal were doing things on their own in the village. After riding out on one of the horses from the grove and then deciding to run a little further out, it just hadn't occurred to me how far away from the village we actually were. I don't ever think I realized how close above our heads the stone arches were until Ava brought it to my attention that we were walking only a few kilometers from the basin of _Vitraya Ramunong_. And that meant we were near a place I hadn't really been in over ten years. And Ava was the one who saw it before I did.

"Jake, what's that?"

I looked at her, and she was pointing to the ground while we were up in the trees. I followed where she was pointing to, first seeing overgrown vines and trees and then seeing dull silver from the top of the link module as it set neglected from the last ten years of being unoccupied and busted up. I still remembered that day, the day when we, the Na'vi had waged war on Hell's Gate for the destruction of Hometree and for Grace's death. I remembered Tsu'tey and Trudy, and I remembered fighting with Quaritch in this very clearing before Neytiri had saved me. I hadn't ever thought I'd be back, but now that I was here, I couldn't stop the flood of memories I felt as Ava and I descended the trees to the ground in front of the module.

"Be careful," I said to Ava. "There's glass on the ground. It'll leave cuts on your feet."

"Glass?" she asked. "How?"

I walked up to the module, seeing the link beds inside and remembering how Neytiri had found me on the floor unconscious from suffocating. Ava stayed close to me, and I climbed in through the broken out window. She followed me, and while I had to squeeze in, she had a little more space to move around.

"Jake, what is this place?" she asked.

"It's a long story," I told her.

"Is this the story I've been wanting you to tell me?"

Sadly, I nodded. "Yeah."

It got quiet as I sat there, and she looked around for a minute before speaking again. "Jake," she said softly.

I looked at her. "It'll be easier if I show you," I said, moving to the corner slowly where the video monitor was setting and finding the controls. I wasn't sure if it would come on after ten years, but apparently, the power cells still had a little juice in them. It powered up after only a minute or two.

The tips of my fingers were bigger than they had been at the time, but by some strange miracle, I was able to find the set of logs that were mine. I hadn't thought about them in over ten years, the first one opening up softly as Ava and I sat in front of the monitor.

Seeing my face, my human face, and hearing my voice coming through the video log was an interesting experience for me. It had been over ten years since I'd seen this face, and it was so different from the one I had now — and yet so similar. When I'd first come to Pandora, I'd been just about a cynical as they came. After losing my brother and being shipped here in his place, I'd been thrust into a universe I knew nothing about. And very few people had actually given me the information I needed to get along. One of those people had been Norm, and eventually Grace had actually helped me. Over three months, I'd actually grown to despise Selfridge and Quaritch. I'd grown to love Neytiri and her people. But in that growth, I'd actually destroyed the one life I probably should've been working to protect. I didn't know if Ava would understand that.

I left Ava to watch my video logs by herself, sitting outside the module and watching to area around us since we were closer to another Clan here. But I could hear everything she could hear. I could remember everything that had happened then. I now wished that I'd at least known about Amelia and Ava even if I still would have spent most of my time with Neytiri. I know I could've at least done something to keep them safe. But instead, Amelia had died trying to protect her daughter, and Ava had spent ten years in the forest fending for her life.

I tried not to pay attention to how much time went by. It felt like it took hours for her to watch the three months worth of logs I'd recorded about every important and sometimes unimportant moment of my time spent in two separate bodies. Ava never said a word. She just sat there and listened. And listening to her made me remember every good thing, every bad thing, every stupid thing I'd done those three months.

"Jake," she said, startling me as she climbed out of the module. I turned to face her. She moved to my side, reaching for my face and staring at me for several seconds before she spoke again. "Was this your fault?" she asked softly.

The one question I'd been hoping to avoid answering, and it was the only one I knew the answer to. I couldn't lie to her, bowing my head. "Yes," I whispered, but I knew she heard me.

She didn't say anything else, releasing me and climbing down from the module to leave me there.

I cursed inwardly, following her immediately. "Ava, please. Let me explain," I begged. "It's not that simple."

She didn't respond, and I sped up, catching her and turning her to face me. "It's not that simple," I said again.

"It sounded simple enough coming from your mouth," she accused. "How could you?"

"I was different!" I exclaimed. "Things were different. I learned to love this place, but it didn't happen overnight."

"But you knew what they were planning," she cried. "You knew what was going to happen, and you didn't do anything to stop them until it was too late! My mother died because of you! Warren died because of you! It's no wonder you didn't want me to know this!"

She tried to push me away, the way Neytiri had that day, but I refused to let go. "Ava, please. I didn't know your mother when I came here. I didn't know you. I wish I had. I wish I'd known, but I didn't. And I'll always wish that now, because it was my fault that you got left out here. But I'm trying to make up for it now. I know it's not enough," I apologized. I loosened my grip, lifting my hands to her face. "And I know I don't deserve forgiveness. But please. Please just know that I would have done everything in my power to change this if I could. It's not that I didn't want you to know this. I was afraid. I didn't want to hurt you. And I can't fix what went wrong, but I can always hope that you'll eventually understand that I would have if I'd had the power to do it. Because it's not just about who's responsible. I didn't have the power to effect change in this place. Not when I got here. I had to earn that power. I have that power now, and that's why I'm teaching you. Please just trust me."

"I did," she said sadly. "But that was before I knew this. How can you expect me to forget this? How do I know you're not doing this for me because you feel sorry about what you did to me?"

I dropped my hands from her, bowing my head. "You don't," I admitted. "And I'm — I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you. I should've told you a long time ago. But it's not safe out here for you right now. Just let me get you back to the village, okay? Then you can decide what to do. Please."

She didn't say anything, moving toward the trees around us and beginning her climb. I followed her closely, keeping my distance but still watching her so I could make sure she was safe. But our luck didn't hold.

We were halfway between where the link module had been left and Hometree when I realized something was wrong. The forest is usually not quiet or empty as far as other animals go, but it was at this point when I couldn't hear or see any animals around where we were walking. And normally, we would've been able to run along without noticing. But with Ava not listening to me, I didn't have anything to do but listen and look. And I was almost too late to catch her when an arrow flew through the air and slammed into the tree limb behind her head. I pulled her out of the way just in time, unconsciously crushing her against my chest as about ten or fifteen men and women from the nearest Clan burst through the underbrush of the forest around us. I recognized their markings immediately, especially since I'd had a few run-ins with them over the last ten years being _olo'eyktan_ of a fairly large Clan nearby.

"_Fìswiräti, peú fì'u!" _My eyes fell on the one in front as he aimed another arrow at Ava, and as I looked around the small clearing, I moved Ava behind me still keeping my arm secured around her so she was pressed against my back.

I held my hand up in front of me, hoping to keep him back as I spoke. _"Lu mawey, ma tsmukan. Ruxte. Oe tsun oeyktìng."_

He didn't put his arrow away, but he stood up straight, snarling. "You are not my brother," he said in plain English. "What is that?" he pointed to Ava as I held her behind me.

I glanced at her, sighing heavily as I lifted my eyes back to his. "She is a child of Eywa," I told him. "Her father is one of the People. Her mother was a friend to the Omaticaya many years ago. She is no threat to you or your Clan. She is a member of my Clan. Please allow me to take her back."

"_Uniltìranyu olo'eyktan._ You cannot claim this thing is a child of our Great Mother. It neither looks like us nor walks like us. Therefore it will be captured and killed. It is abomination. Unworthy to be allowed to live. If you wish to survive, you may go, but it will stay."

I grit my teeth together, holding Ava tighter. "You won't be able to lay a finger on her," I swore to them.

"Jake," Ava whispered.

I looked at her, and she lifted her eyes to the trees. As subtly as I could, I looked too, seeing Tu'San and Eyreal above us with a five-person hunting party surrounding the warriors surrounding me and Ava.

"Let us go," I ordered. "And none of you will be hurt."

The leader of the group smiled and laughed, unconsciously lowering his bow. "I think we have the upper hand here now, _uniltìranyu olo'eyktan_."

Less than a second after he spoke, five arrows flew through the air, hitting five of his men immediately. He pulled his knife, looking above him to see the seven Omaticaya aiming their weapons at him. I didn't know if that was enough for him to back off, but Tu'San dropped out of the tree, followed by Eyreal, and together, they took point around me and Ava as the other five hunters remained in the trees.

"Kill this creature and make us your enemy," Tu'San warned the leader. "Retreat now and preserve our good will. Attack and suffer the consequences."

I felt safe enough then to stand up, keeping Ava against me as the leader of the other Clan appeared to be appraising Tu'San's warning. With his group being outnumbered, it looked like he would have done the smart thing and leave, but he stood there for several minutes, not moving or even speaking.

Tu'San didn't back down, pulling his knife from its holster at his right hip and drawing it on the insistent leader.

Then after about ten minutes, he finally spoke, still snarling. "Outnumbered today. But tomorrow is _trramip_. We see numbers then."

Half a minute later, he nodded to the members of his group, and they backed off. The five hunters with Tu'San dropped from the trees then, keeping the perimeter while he and Eyreal remained near me and Ava. I turned to her, lifting my hands to her face.

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

She nodded, laying her head over the middle of my chest as Tu'San stepped closer to me and spoke softly.

"You are both unharmed?" he asked.

I nodded. "We're okay. Thank you."

"_Ma tsahik_ say strange movements in land here," he told me, meaning the other Clan. "_'Ewan'aw_ should never be away without hunting party. Not after today. Agree?"

I lowered my gaze to Ava, and she lifted her eyes to mine. I held her tighter, looking at Tu'San. "Agreed."

When the hunters around us decided it was safe for us to make our way back to the village, I allowed Eyreal to take Ava ahead of me. Even though I'd effectively saved her life, I didn't want that to influence her to forgive me. I _had _caused her to get left out here, and I _was_ indirectly responsible for her mother's death. If I hadn't escaped the base with Norm and Grace, Amelia wouldn't have felt the need to get Ava off the base. She wouldn't have been caught outside. The guards wouldn't have shot her.

I still hadn't made it through her mother's logs for that time, but it didn't matter anymore. I needed to move on, and even if I wanted to know the truth about Amelia's death, I couldn't let it influence anymore of the decisions I made. And I needed to focus on the next several months of Ava's life with me, not the few months of her life on the base when I'd first gotten here.

I tried to give Ava space when we finally made it back to the village, opting to find Thomas while he was with a few of his friends, and even though I didn't really bother my son either, I stayed where I was until she was ready to come to me.

When she did find me, she surprised me with her tact, sitting on the branch where I'd settled and watching Thomas and his friends with me for several long seconds before she spoke. I expected her to make me feel like I'd owed her an explanation the moment I'd laid eyes on her, but instead, she apologized.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," she said softly. I tried to stop her, but she shushed me with her fingers on my lips. "I was only six when I got lost out here, but I knew it was safer out here than it was back there. And you didn't know me. You had no reason to behave any differently than you did. And I know you would change it if you could. You tell me all the time. And even if you _are_ responsible for a lot of things that happened, if anyone other than the people who did know about me had seen me, they would have killed me. I wouldn't have been one of you," she said touching my chest. "Or even one like Rea. I would have been something completely outside their realm of understanding. So in an indirect way, you actually saved me."

I shook my head. "Ava — " I stopped, breathing deep. "You don't have to do that for me."

"I'm not doing this for you, Jake," she told me. "You've been working so hard. You wouldn't be doing that for me unless you really wanted to. This doesn't change that. I just wish I'd known. Now that I know this, it won't be hanging in the air between us. I know how much you loved her, Jake. And I know how much she loved you. She saved you."

"So have you," I reminded her.

She blushed, bowing her head. "What did she call you? _Skxawng?_"

I blushed then. "Sometimes," I admitted.

"So it's normal for you to need saving every once in a while. And I guess I'm going to be the one doing it from now on."

"_Ma sempul!_" Thomas yelled. I looked at him to see a smile on his face. "Come! We need one more!"

"Go," Ava whispered. "I'll stay here."

I didn't wait, rising slowly and moving to where my son and his friends were beckoning me to them.

* * *

After that day, time passed so quick that I barely had any time to really stop and look at what I was doing. It became second nature to me, even showing my _ikran_ to Ava when I thought she was ready for it. It made me think of when Neytiri had shown Seze to me, and it made me sad they were both gone now. Neytiri had made the bond with a new _ikran_ eventually, but I knew she always missed her friend. I'd been flying with this guy for ten years now. He knew me in a way no one else really ever would, but Neytiri had come very close.

"Ikran_ is not horse. Once _tsaheylu_ is made, _ikran_ will fly with only one hunter in the whole life. To become _taronyu_, hunter, you must choose your own _ikran_, and he must choose you."_

"_When?"_

"_When you are ready."_

The roost was alive with activity the day I took Ava up into the canopy of the tree while Tu'San and Eyreal were both off doing other things hunters usually did when they weren't teaching. It was easy to call mine forward, but different from how I'd reacted, Ava wasn't scared or even surprised when he burst through the leaves, shrieking loudly and coming to settle in front of me.

"_Zawng,"_ I called, and he was at attention easily, his fierce yellow eyes zeroing in on Ava as she knelt to the trunk of the tree a good two or three meters away. "Easy, boy," I whispered, soothing him with the meat I'd brought for him.

I glanced back at Ava, seeing the smile on her face. "This is an _ikran_," I told her. "He's been mine for ten years. He's a good friend. _Ikrans_ aren't like the horses you ride with Tu'San. Once you make the bond with one of these guys, it's for life. To become a hunter, you have to choose your own, and he has to choose you. Or in your case, I guess she would have to choose you."

"Why didn't you show him to me before?" she asked, rising from her position and moving toward me slowly.

Honestly, I hadn't really been out on him since Neytiri's death, so I knew I'd been neglecting him. But I didn't know how to tell Ava that, so I lied.

"I wanted you to be ready," I told her. "It's a big deal around here. I hope you get to do it the way I did."

"When?" she asked, grasping onto my arm gently.

I smiled, remembering Neytiri's words and repeating them. "When you are ready."

I looked at Ava. "Step back," I suggested. "I'll show you what he can do."

She took three long strides backward, crouching down as I straightened the harness on my friend and then mounting him easily. So much time had passed since I'd done this, but it came back like it had been less than a day.

"Yah!"

With one word, he took off, beating his wings against the air and gliding down into the open air. Wind hit my face perfectly, and I immediately couldn't believe I'd gone so long without doing this. For a minute, I flew around the tree, keeping Ava in my sights and smiling as she watched me intently. I could see the yearning in her face that Neytiri had probably seen on my face that day. I thought for a few seconds how close Ava was to being able to do what I done. I thought about how proud I was that she'd come so far. I thought about how Amelia would have loved seeing her daughter do what she was doing now. I thought about Tommy, knowing he wouldn't have been able to show Ava the things I was showing her now, but hoping he would have wanted it this way.

Ava's desire to learn grew even more after seeing my _ikran_, and my desire to teach her grew too. I wanted to be with her when she went on her first hunt, but for the time being, just being with her made me feel a little more like myself. I didn't have to work as hard to show people how special she was. I didn't even have to prove to Mo'at how well she was learning. I didn't have to hide how proud I was. Things were finally back to normal.

* * *

**Another chapter put to bed! Yay! Next time, we're going to delve a little deeper. Stay tuned.**

**Now for the definitions:**

**_'Ewan'aw - Young one (Ava)_**

**_Olo'eyktan - Clan Leader_**

**_Tslam - Understand_**

**_Tutan taronyu - Male hunter_**

**_Tsahik - Matriarch - Interpreter of Eywa_**

**_Taronyu - Hunter_**

**_Tetrapterons - six-winged bird-like creatures (there's no Na'vi name for them)_**

**_Talioang - Sturmbeest_**

**_Nantang - Viperwolf_**

**_Vitraya Ramunong - Tree of Souls_**

_**Fìswiräti, peú fì'u - This creature, what is it (what is this thing)**_

_**Lu mawey, ma tsmukan. Ruxte. Oe tsun oeyktìng. - Be calm, brother. Please. I can explain.**_

_**Uniltìranyu olo'eyktan - Dreamwalker Clan Leader**_

_**Trramip - New day**_

_**Ikran - Mountain Banshee**_

_**Tsaheylu - the bond**_

_**Zawng - Scream (the name of Jake's ikran - seemed like a good one to me)**_

**LOTS of definitions. Wonder how many new phrases I can come up with in Na'vi. I think I've got a few good ones up my sleeve.**

**As always, Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy reading it. I'm enjoying writing it.**

**Keep Reading!  
**


	15. Filling the Gaps

**I have to apologize for the long wait, but what can I say, Life happens.**

**Anyway, here we are with a new chapter, and I'll go ahead and warn you that we'll be delving into the past for a little while here. It's very important for you to know a little about Ava's mother, and I actually think this is a really good chapter.**

**I don't own Avatar, but I do own Amelia, Warren, Lisa and a few others that should be obvious, and we'll see a few familiar faces this time around, so tell me what you think about their roles in this part.**

**Thank you for the reviews, alerts and favorites. I really appreciate them!  
**

* * *

_**Filling the Gaps**_

Amelia Shaw woke up in the middle of the night feeling the bed beneath her wet, and she knew what was wrong. Well, it wasn't wrong, but it wasn't good either, especially since she was laying in the long-house virtually alone despite the sixteen or seventeen bodies surrounding her. But the good thing about all this was that she was prepared for it, sitting up slowly as her abdomen cramped painfully and reaching out for the comm panel Grace had insisted on installing after they'd learned about Tom's death. She apparently didn't trust Amelia's body to hold on for the four or five days she needed for the baby inside her to be ready to be born.

"Grace!" Amelia yelled in no particular direction.

For several seconds, nothing happened. Amelia propped herself on her hands, feeling her arms shaking against the pressure, and she yelled again, crying softly.

"Grace! Please!"

Finally, Amelia heard Lisa's voice. "Amelia, honey, what is it?"

"What do you think?" Amelia screamed.

"Hold on. I'll get Warren!"

Amelia huffed loudly, inhaling as deep as she could the way Grace had told her, but it didn't help. In the five minutes it took for Warren to come out of the airlock and run to where Amelia was, the pain slowly increased until she could barely keep herself sitting up.

"Amelia," he whispered. He didn't ask if she was sure like he had last time. He felt the bed beneath her, lifting her in his arms instantly and hurrying out of the long-house as quickly as he could.

Every little jerk of his feet hitting the ground sent a jolt of sharp pain up into her abdomen, and he tried to hold her tight against him, but it didn't help. He whispered to her while he hurried, breathing heavily through his mask and getting to the airlock where Lisa was currently waiting inside the unpressurized corridor that led to the ambient room.

"Perfect timing, Amy," she said softly, guiding them into the ambient room where Grace was currently setting up the equipment. "We all thought you'd go into labor in the middle of the day while everyone was bustling around the link room."

Amelia groaned softly as Warren set her over the gurney. "Oh, I'm glad I could accommodate you," she griped through her clenched teeth.

"Okay, Amelia," Grace said. "Watch your breathing."

Amelia huffed, grasping onto the gurney beneath her.

Grace already had injections ready, taking the first one and wiping the inside of Amelia's right arm before she eased the tip of the needle in gently. Amelia tried to pull away, but Warren held her still.

"Easy, Amy," he whispered, sitting behind her and taking her hands in his.

"That'll take the edge off," Grace promised. "But I don't want to give you too much. It could cause distress to the baby."

Amelia pulled in a ragged breath, squeezing her eyes shut as Grace and Lisa adjusted the gurney so that Amelia's feet were gripping the very edge for balance. It hurt more than anything Amelia had ever felt in her short life, and she knew it was only going to get worse. No one in the small group of people had been able to tell Amelia what this was going to feel like, and she was seriously regretting not asking someone back on Earth what it felt like to give birth to a thirteen pound baby.

"Amelia," Grace said softly. "You need to breathe. Come on. In slowly," she prompted, inhaling herself.

A shake of Amelia's head was all Grace got back in return, and she grasped onto Amelia's ankles to hold her still. "Amelia," she said again. "Breathe, now. In," she ordered.

Reluctantly and with her abdomen going rigid, Amelia inhaled deeply, feeling air from the ambient room fill her lungs and spread blood from her arms and legs to her hands and feet. But the pain didn't stop. In fact, it got worse.

"Do it again," Grace demanded softly. "You're doing fine. But you're not ready to push, and I don't want to cut you open unless I have to. Now, come on. Breathe in."

Grace inhaled, holding her eyes level with Amelia's. Slowly, Amelia breathed in a deep as she could. It still hurt, but with Warren holding her hands, it was easier to squeeze his hands and feel his muscles give under pressure. Warmth was important now. Amelia knew that. It didn't mean she was going to coast through this without making any noise. If the people in here with her thought that, they were sorely mistaken.

Gently, the drugs began to take effect, and Amelia let up her grip on Warren's hands, huffing loudly and laying her head back over his shoulder. He laughed, allowing her to slide her fingers through his for a little more stability.

"Not bad for your first contraction," he commented.

"Oh, shut up," she panted.

He just laughed again.

"Amelia," Grace said, "you're doing fine. I'm just going to measure you to see how far along you are."

It got quiet inside the room as Grace and Lisa worked the scanner that had allowed them to gauge the baby's weight and size. At thirteen pounds, the baby inside Amelia was nearly 25 inches long. Even though Amelia had only been carrying her for ten months, Grace had been telling her for weeks that it could last even longer than that with the genetic make-up the baby possessed. There was still a lot they didn't know about Na'vi physiology, and having a baby that was too big inside a human girl who was too small never left Grace's thoughts. Amelia knew she could do this. There was no question as to whether or not she would do it. Even if it killed her, she was going to have this baby. Of that much, she was very certain.

"All right," Grace said softly. "You're dilated about seven centimeters, so you've still got a long way to go. But you're doing good. We'll just wait for the next contraction to do another measurement."

It didn't take nearly as long as Grace said it would. Even though the pain was lessened by the drugs, Amelia still felt the next contraction and the one after it. After each contraction, Grace would measure. Lisa stayed nearby in case anyone came wandering into the link room. Warren stayed on the gurney behind Amelia, and she used him for support even if he didn't know how to stay quiet. Amelia tried to listen to her breathing, but every time she tried, another contraction would come, and she would lose it completely.

Hours went by, and Lisa switched on the opaque screen between them and the link room, turning off the talk-box so no one would hear them on the other side of the glass. Grace said several times that she wasn't sure how far Amelia needed to be dilated since the baby was so big. But Amelia's body did the gauging for her, and when she reached almost eleven centimeters, she automatically began pushing. All Grace knew to do was follow Amelia's lead.

"You're doing good, Amelia," Grace said several times, encouraging her to keep breathing and holding her legs to give her a little support as she continued to push the baby's head out.

Honestly, later Amelia would try to describe the feeling, but there were no words. It felt uncomfortable, painful, hard and inevitable all at once. The drugs started to wear off just the baby's head came out, and Amelia screamed as Grace gently pulled the baby's shoulders and finally the hips and legs all the way out.

"Relax, Amelia," she soothed. "You did good. Warren, help her relax."

While Grace and Lisa laid the baby over a warming bed, Amelia watched from where Warren was slowly rubbing her shoulders. But something wasn't right, and Amelia didn't know what it was until they finally laid the baby in her arms. Upon seeing her daughter's face for the first time, Amelia saw something that could only be described as impossible.

While her daughter was beautiful was a head full of light brown hair, she also possessed dark blue stripes along the curves of her body from her forehead to her feet. Her ears were pink and pointed like Amelia had seen in pictures from Grace's school, and they were small compared to Warren's and Lisa's avatars. Her baby had a long, thin strand of connecting fibers coming from the base of her skull, and there was enough hair growing with it to braid around the queue until enough was free at the bottom for her daughter to make her own connections one day. And she had a long, striped tail with a tuft of light brown hair at the end.

Warren laughed, reaching for the baby's cheek. "She's gorgeous," he whispered. "Ava?" he inquired, and Amelia nodded.

Tears filled her eyes, and she was instantly thinking about Tom. Even though she'd attached scans of the baby in her transmissions to him, Amelia knew he would never see Ava's face. He would never hold her in his arms, and he would never be able to teach her the way he'd said he wanted to for the several months they'd corresponded.

"She's amazing, Amelia," Grace said. "We'll do more extensive scans once she's eaten, but she looks healthy."

Slowly, the baby, her daughter opened her eyes, and Amelia gasped softly, smiling. "Oh, they're beautiful," she exclaimed. "Have you ever seen anything like them?" she asked Grace.

"Never," Grace whispered.

Slowly, Amelia began to feel light-headed, and she lifted her eyes to Grace's, watching as her face became blurry and then began to fade.

"Amy," Warren said softly. His voice sounded far away, like she was hearing it through a tube. "Grace, what's happening?"

Amelia felt her heart speed up, sending blood to her head and causing the room to spin uncontrollably. There was a ring in her ears that sounded louder than anything she'd ever heard in her life, and everything suddenly went white. Her fingertips began tingling, and the bundle in her arms slipped away as the room disappeared. Something was definitely wrong.

* * *

"_Amelia."_

_His voice sounded so clear, like it wasn't coming through a video link from more than four light-years away, but like it was right there. But that wasn't possible. He was dead._

_She opened her eyes slowly, blinded by a white light and then immersed in the warmest air she'd ever felt. And she saw something that looked more beautiful than anything had before — even her own child's face. There, above her with the widest smile across his face was Tom, dressed in a white shirt and white pants. He laid his hand over her forehead, and it felt so real. His skin was so warm._

"_Amelia," he said again. "Wake up."_

_He took her hand in his, pulling her to sit up and then sitting in front of her. "Is this real?" she whispered, pleaded._

_His hold on her hand tightened, but instead of saying yes, he bowed his head. "I wish it was," he insisted. _

"_Am I dreaming?" she asked, lifting her hand to his face and feeling stubble covering his jaw._

"_No," he told her._

"_Then where am I?" she breathed, scared for the smallest second, even as he lifted his hands to her face._

"_She's testing you, Amelia," he revealed. "To make sure you're strong enough to take care of your little girl. She thinks seeing me will help you."_

"_But you died more than four light-years away from here," Amelia exclaimed softly. "How is this possible?"_

"_You're talking to the wrong guy," he chuckled. "And I'm supposed to be the smart one. Amelia, I'm so sorry. I should have fought harder, and I wish things were going to be different for you. I'm really sorry."_

_All she cared about was seeing his face, even if she knew he wasn't really there. He felt so real, and she wanted to stay here forever. She knew at that moment that she couldn't stay with him. She knew the moment she touched him that she had to be strong to take care of her daughter. Whatever force was showing him to her now was doing it for a reason, and she couldn't question that._

"_You promised everything would be okay," Amelia said softly, and he inhaled deeply, now much closer to her than he had been moments earlier. "And now I know everything will be okay. Even if you're not with me. I have a piece of you that no one will be able to take away from me. And I promise I won't ever forget you. I love you, Thomas Sully."_

_He smiled again, leaning closer to her and laying his forehead over hers. Slowly, the distant sound of beeping filled Amelia's ears, and he leaned in a little closer, kissing her gently and whispering as the beeping threatened to overtake her hearing. "I'll always be with you, Amelia. Always."_

_The beeping became surrounded by air moving around her face, and she opened her eyes again. But he was gone._

* * *

"Amy," she heard, louder than the beeping as it gauged her heart and respiration. She recognized Grace's voice, feeling the older woman's hand on her face and reluctantly opening her eyes to see the bright lights of the ambient room just passed Grace's head. "Amy, come on."

"She's been out for almost an hour," Warren said frantically. "Are you sure she didn't lose too much blood?"

"I'm sure," Grace hedged. "Stay calm. Amy," she said again, caressing Amelia's face. "Honey, can you hear me?"

For several seconds, Amelia didn't want to talk. She didn't want to move. If she did, then whatever she'd seen, wherever she'd been, it would all start to fade away. But she had someone else to worry about now, and they were more important than her grief. She inhaled deeply, feeling drugs now flooding her system as an IV drip lay taped to her arm. The look of relief on Grace's face was obvious as she leaned closer.

"You really scared me there for a minute," Grace pressed. "Why didn't you say anything about the blood thinners? I should've been prepared for that."

Amelia sighed softly as the gurney's back was propped up slightly, and Warren sat at her side, taking her hand in his.

"You're okay," he said, a slight questioning in his voice even though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than anyone else.

"I'm okay," Amelia insisted. "Where is she?"

He looked at Grace, and she looked back at Lisa who was fitting the baby girl inside a soft blanket with consideration to her tail and her queue which had been cleaned and rebraided gently. Slowly, Lisa moved closer to the gurney, holding the baby close and then laying her in Amelia's outstretched arms.

Having already had a bath and even a little formula, the baby looked up at her mother with her eyes wide open, taking in the sight completely. They still looked the way they had upon first glance. Not topaz or sapphire, but glimmering emeralds. Amelia released one of her daughter's little hands, allowing her to grasp onto her mother's finger as she whispered to her.

"_Eywa ngahu."_

The baby cooed softly, squeezing her mother's finger and staring up at her with wonder.

* * *

The one bad thing about being shipped to a place more than four light-years away was the fact that all these doctors had to test for everything under the sun to make sure there weren't going to be any contagious diseases being shipped there too. Jake hated doctors. He'd hated them most of his life, but more so recently because all their damn negativity. For a year of his life, and maybe more, all he'd heard out of the stupid bastards was how he couldn't do this or couldn't do that. And he got sick of it, fast.

These doctors here didn't really care that he couldn't walk. All they really cared about was that he was healthy enough to survive the interstellar trip he would be taking in his brother's place. Jake had been in the Marines. Of course he was healthy. He lifted weights every day, and he ate whenever he was hungry. But these guys poked and prodded him everywhere they could get, including a few places Jake wasn't too happy about.

They took blood to make sure he didn't have anything that wasn't curable in a few days, and they injected him full of this crap that made him feel like he was gonna come out of his skin in two seconds. They said it was some sort of cocktail that would make it easier for him to adjust to cryosleep. Honestly, Jake could've done without it, but they didn't even ask him. They just shot him up.

Something else Jake wasn't entirely thrilled about was getting his hair cut. He didn't see the point, but after being in the military for three years, Jake did what they asked. He had let his hair get a little scraggly lately, and he was a Marine after all. Plus, the doctors told him it would make cryosleep easier to maintain. Jake figured they were yanking his chain with that one, but he didn't argue. Anything to keep them off his back.

One thing the doctors had also insisted was showing Jake his brother's avatar. The damn thing was tiny, about the size of an oversized rat, but it was blue with stripes, a tail and a small braid. Jake had never seen anything like it before, but he could see something in it that felt a little like Tommy. Even though the doctors said it wouldn't really look like anything for a while, Jake decided they were trying to keep his hopes down. Jake wasn't about to let them do that.

With the shuttle leaving at 0600, the last thing they did was run him through a series of scans that would allow them to keep him under sedation while he was in cryosleep. They checked his heart rate and respiration, and they fitted him for his cryo chamber since he was gonna be put into it first thing in the morning. The few years Jake had spent in the Marines with the training he'd done was enough to prepare him for the few days it took the doctors to get him ready for his trip. He wondered if Tommy would have been doing this now, but he tried not to dwell on it.

When he woke up, he would be orbiting Pandora, a moon that was a small paradise above the gas giant Polyphemus. He'd grown up hearing about it, but he never figured he'd be going there. He never dreamed he'd be getting shipped there in his brother's place to do something he was neither qualified nor trained to do. But when these big suits spent money, they didn't like to waste it, so of course they would offer him a chance to go, especially if that meant not wasting money on an avatar that was more expensive than anything Jake had ever seen before.

He was one of a hundred people being shipped out, half of which were people like who he'd been, military who were being sent there to provide security for the science guys like who his brother had been. He wasn't maybe the most important passenger, but the guy coordinating all the passengers already considered him a special case. Jake didn't care how many special considerations they had to make for him. As long as he got to do something good with his life once he got there.

"You're a lot healthier than we thought you'd be," one of the doctors told him while they were putting him into his chamber that morning.

Jake scoffed, watching them strap him in and then secure his IV with a band around his forearm. "Guess I shouldn't piss you off while you're shooting me up with drugs, right?" he remarked.

"Well, maybe you'll survive the trip," the other doctor taking his vitals said and then switching on the chamber. "Then the guy who unstraps you won't take offense to it."

Jake smirked, feeling an immediate cold sensation flood his arm and then his torso. His heart sped up slightly, and he breathed deep, closing his eyes for a minute and then opening them again to see it blurry and a little dimmer than before. Jake tried to remember where his stuff was, tried to think of the last thing he'd ever said to his brother. But he was under before he could recall the last words they'd ever spoken. His brother became a blurry image somewhere in the back of his mind along with every other stupid thing he'd ever thought or done.

And then everything was gone. There was no light, no sound, no color. Everything slipped away slowly until Jake was left in a black, numb cocoon made of metal and servos that whirred every few seconds, gauging his body temperature and adjusting levels of chemicals inside the chamber to make sure he remained asleep and suspended for the entire trip.

"_If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to make sure you know that you're not worthless. You can make a difference the way you are right now, and no one can tell you any different. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll lead a revolution on an alien world."_

* * *

Three days after being born, Amelia's daughter Ava had already grown a little more, and she was already able to recognize the faces around her. Grace had taken scans of her every day, and they were already adjusting her diet. Amelia talked to her all the time, especially when she was feeding her. Unlike most Na'vi babies, Ava needed to be breast-fed, even though she could also eat normal food. Lisa and Warren had spent more time in their avatars in the last three days so they could be outside without their masks, and Amelia figured they were probably going to be doing that a lot even though she tried to make them understand that her daughter could breathe inside and outside.

Warren especially liked to spend his time outside with Amelia, even when she made it clear that she wanted to spend time with her daughter alone. She knew he was starting to get attached to her, but she didn't have the heart to tell him it was hopeless. She figured he was hoping she would heal after a little while, but Amelia knew she was always going to be heartbroken. She'd already accepted it.

On the third day, Amelia got up with her daughter before anyone else. She spent a good hour or so feeding Ava while she compiled all the video transmissions she'd gotten from Tom onto a portable storage drive. While she did that, she whispered to her daughter, telling her about how even if she wouldn't ever see his face, she would always feel his presence with her. Amelia was going to do something that would ensure that.

It was just brightening up outside when Amelia left the long-house with Ava in her arms, and she slipped on her rubber shoes to protect her feet as she walked across the courtyard. The sky was just turning light blue and pink even with the stars still twinkling, and the security towers were still being run on auto since it was before 0600. Amelia knew no guards would be out until then, so she would have a little time to do this properly.

Amelia chose the tree farthest away from the main compound, remembering how she'd planted it as a gift to Eywa. Today, she would be using it as a grave marker, even if no one else would know that. Ava slept in her arms most of the way, only opening her eyes as her mother sat over the ground at the base of the growing tree. The plants grew differently here than they did on Earth, and with less gravity to hold them down, these trees had grown twice as fast as they would have anywhere else. This tree was the biggest and most noticeable. All the guards hated it, but they couldn't cut it down. Those were the rules inside the courtyard.

With a small shovel in her hand, Amelia dug a tiny hole at the base of the tree, careful not to damage the main roots of the tree as she used her fingers to smooth the hole. Ava stirred as she moved, and she whispered softly.

"It's okay, Ava. I'm right here, sweetie."

With her free hand, Amelia uncapped the drive, placing it in the ground and covering it with dirt as she lifted her eyes to the tree and whispered. "I offer this gift to the Great Mother. I sacrifice a piece of myself for the safety of my daughter and pray for her growth and joy." She paused looking at Ava and cradling her in both her arms. "Everything's going to be okay, Ava," she still whispered. "He's in a better place now. She'll keep him with us now."

Ava didn't seem to understand, but Amelia knew she would one day. For now, the only thing that mattered was for her daughter to be safe and happy.

Amelia was still outside when Warren found her after linking with his avatar, and even though she was still sitting under the tree with Ava, the guard in the tower couldn't see her from where he was.

"You probably shouldn't be out here, you know," Warren said to her, making his way to where she was and sitting down behind her.

She noticed he wasn't wearing shoes, and she grinned for the first time in three days. "Grace probably wouldn't like you not wearing any shoes," she said. "You know how bad she is about you taking care of yourself. Well, both your selves."

"Hey, my feet were made for this grass," he said with a crooked grin. "Besides, it's not as bad out here as it is in the garden." He paused, looking up at the tree and then looking at her. "How is she?" he asked of Ava.

Amelia looked at her daughter, watching Warren extend his large blue hand and caress Ava's cheek gently. "She's perfect," Amelia whispered.

He lifted his hand to her arm, rubbing her skin lightly. "And how is her mother?" he asked softly.

For several seconds, Amelia said nothing, watching his large blue fingers caress her daughter's cheek. "Do you want the truth?" she whispered after almost a minute.

"Of course I do, Amy," he pleaded, moving to be in front of her. "This is what you've been working toward. I just wanted you to know that I'm here for you. I promise. And I know it's too soon for you to think about it, but you will get better."

"When?" she begged. "Next week? Next month? Next year?"

"I don't know," he whispered, lifting his fingers to caress her cheek. "But I'll help you. And I'm going to start by taking you back to the long-house. All we need now is one of the guards catching you out here without a mask. Come on," he said, easing forward and easily lifting her and Ava in his strong arms. "Everything's going to be okay."

It was easy for Warren to walk along the fence until they were hidden by trees and bushes for him to put Amelia down and then walk into the long-house to put Ava in her bed. Several of the other avatars were now gone, out in the compound doing various activities, and Amelia made her way to her bed to get clothes for the day. Unlike most of the other bodies around her, Amelia still had to bathe every day, and Warren left her to that while he held Ava in his arms.

While she was alone, Amelia took what time she had to think about everything. She knew she would have to keep most of her grief to herself, even if Grace and Lisa still insisted on talking with her about Tom and Ava. Amelia didn't want to talk about anything anymore. She wanted to focus on her daughter and her learning. It was going to be up to Amelia now to teach Ava the things she needed to know about both sides of her heritage. No matter what happened now, Amelia had to make sure Ava was safe and that she learned what other Na'vi children would learn. Most people on the base wouldn't understand, but the small group of people who now knew about Ava would help.

Her shower was hot and short-lived, and Warren was still sitting with Ava as she laughed and reached for his face.

"She likes me," he chuckled, kissing her fingers and playfully taking them in his mouth.

Ava instantly cried out, and Amelia hurried to his side to see blood on her infant daughter's fingers. "Warren," she exclaimed, lifting Ava from his arms.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I didn't think about my . . . teeth. Amelia, I'm sorry."

Amelia found gauze in the station across the aisle from her bed, cleaning her daughter's fingers as Warren stood up to follow her. "It's okay, sweetie," she whispered gently. "It's okay."

"Amelia—"

"Warren, please," she chided, her voice elevated slightly. "Not when you're like that."

"I didn't mean to hurt her," he whispered, his head hung low.

"Well, you did," she accused. "Just go, please. I don't need you here right now."

She glanced at him, seeing the wounded look on his face, and she sighed heavily, moving around him to the other side of the long-house. She stepped outside slowly, looking around to make sure there weren't any guards patrolling so she could move around to the side of the house away from the towers. She listened to Warren leave the house, but she didn't stop him.

She knew he hadn't meant to hurt Ava. She knew he loved her more than it seemed possible, and Amelia knew he was aware enough to be gentle with her. She'd overreacted, but for now, there wasn't a lot Amelia could do about it. She'd been on edge for several days, since before Ava had been born. And it wasn't anyone's fault but her own. But Amelia couldn't afford to be careless with her daughter now, and neither could anyone else.

Amelia sat for a long time where no one could see her, but it seemed that her hiding place wasn't very intelligent since Grace found her there around lunch time.

"Amelia," she said from the north end of the house, and Amelia looked up to see her avatar coming closer. She sighed softly, looking at Ava as she now slept.

"I didn't mean to yell at him," Amelia admitted. "But he should have been more careful. She's not as tough as he is."

Grace sat down slowly, easing closer to Amelia and reaching out to touch Ava's cheek. "He knows that, Amelia," she stated.

It got quiet as they sat there, and Grace touched Amelia's face, making her look up. "You know how safe you are with Warren and Lisa," she told Amelia. "I hope one slip-up on his part won't change that. And I think we both know how he feels about you."

Amelia looked at her daughter. "I know. I can't tell him how hopeless it is for him to feel that way."

"Why is it hopeless?" Grace asked softly.

All Amelia really had to do was look at Grace the way she had the day she'd been told about Tom, and Grace inhaled deeply.

"I know it's only been a week," she began. "And I know how you felt about Dr. Sully. I watched the two of you fall in love, Amelia. But, honey, he's gone. And he isn't coming here anymore," she whispered, and Amelia unwillingly began to cry again. "I know you don't want to forget him. And I don't think you ever will. But if it were me, I would want the man who's here and capable of loving me now, not the man who wouldn't be here for another six years." Grace paused, and Amelia wiped her tears away slowly. "Now, I'm not saying you wouldn't have been able to love Dr. Sully as much or even more than you do now when he got here. But please. Think about all of this before you give up. I never thought I'd ever say this, but I love you, Amelia. I want you to be happy and safe, and I don't think someone who wasn't going to be here for six years would be able to do that."

Grace stopped, easing her arm over Amelia's back and squeezing her gently. "And I don't want you to hold out for Dr. Sully's brother. He very well may be on his way here with Dr. Sully's avatar, but I plan on having a very long talk with Selfridge when he gets here."

Amelia didn't say anything back, reminded for the first time since learning about Tom's death that he had a brother who looked just like him. Whether Grace wanted it or not, Amelia knew right then and there that she would find a way to at least get a look at him. She would also be getting a look at Tom's avatar when it got here.

"Come on, honey," Grace said, rising slowly and helping Amelia to her feet. "You need to eat."

She didn't argue with Grace, allowing the nearly nine-foot-tall woman to pull her back inside the long-house where everyone else was gathering to eat.

* * *

Since lunch had been spent outside, Grace insisted all the avatar drivers lay them down for the night and have dinner inside. It was usually this way when most of the drivers had to keep their Human bodies maintained, but with Ava's arrival, a lot of the drivers spent most of their days outside to see the baby. It was supposed t be a secret, and all of the drivers who knew about Ava had been sworn to secrecy. But it was still difficult to explain why none of the drivers wanted to go inside for lunch.

Warren Watson was one of those drivers. In the last two and a half months, since Grace had brought him into Amelia's experiment with Lisa, two things had happened that were obvious to just about everyone. He was one of the only two drivers who spent more than the recommended time in his avatar outside in the courtyard. And he was quickly falling in love with Amelia and her baby, if he hadn't already. Grace knew, and so did Lisa. He was pretty sure Amelia knew, but after what happened to the doctor back on Earth she'd been talking to, Warren knew it was a sore subject to broach. So he couldn't say anything.

Until today.

After what he'd done, even if he'd done it by accident, Warren decided it was time to talk to Grace. In two and a half short months, he'd started losing weight, even with the one meal a day he was eating. In those short months, he'd started linking with his avatar only to spend time with Amelia. He knew she could come inside whenever she wanted. He knew the baby could too, but Amelia hardly ever did that. And he knew why. Especially now. In order for her tolerance of the atmosphere to stay as high as possible, she had to be outside as much as possible, even with the injections she'd been given. The minute she stepped inside and started breathing oxygen, the carbon dioxide levels in her body would start to go down, and she would suffocate.

After laying his avatar down for the night and opening his eyes in his link bed, he was absolutely certain of what he was going to say to Grace at dinner. Tiredly, he pushed the capsule lid up, blinded for a few seconds as his eyes adjusted to the bright lights shining down on him. He moved the fiber optic plate away, laying still as the controls on his link bed were taken down.

"You okay, man?" Dr. Max Patel asked him softly.

Slowly, Warren sat up, groaning softly and leaning over his legs. "I'm fine," he grumbled, rubbing his eyes and then easing his long fingers through his hair. It was longer on top than in the back, but he'd had it done that way a couple of weeks back. He refused to get it buzzed all off. Amelia hated short hair.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, stretching his arms above his head and feeling several of his joints crack and click back into place before he stepped down to the floor. At 6'1", Warren was among the taller members of the team, and with his chiseled features, he'd actually attracted a lot of attention upon arriving here six years earlier. But he wasn't here to have late-night habitat calls with the women who looked at him like they wanted to devour him. At least not at first.

He'd actually been near the end of his tour when Amelia had arrived, and even though it had been a strange request, he'd put in for a second tour so he wouldn't have to go home. The only two people who knew why were Grace and Lisa, and they'd sworn not to tell anyone. It wasn't that he'd been expecting anything bad to happen that would warrant Grace needing him and Lisa to look after Amelia, but he hadn't done anything to stop Grace from doing it. He didn't know if he was ever going to tell Amelia about that.

The mess hall was bursting at the seams when Warren made his way inside after shaving and combing his hair. He knew Amelia wasn't in here, but he still wanted to look presentable when he talked to Grace. He knew she was worried about him, but what he was about to talk to her about was going to increase her rate of worry by about a hundred. But he couldn't think of a better solution. He couldn't do two things at once, and it was coming down to a choice. Amelia or his avatar. He was pretty sure Grace knew which one he would pick.

Grace was sitting by herself when Warren found her, and he moved to her side slowly, noting the three or four pads around her and a tray full of food. She didn't look up when he sat down, but he knew she was aware of him.

"Should I be worried, Grace?" he asked, and she glanced at him from behind her glasses. Deciding that she wasn't in the mood for small talk, Warren inhaled deeply and began slowly. "I know you're worried about me. And I know there isn't a lot that can be done about what I'm doing to myself. But I think I know a way."

Finally, she stopped and looked at him, pulling off her glasses and lowering her voice. "If this is about Amelia, then we really don't need to talk about this here. Selfridge is starting to get suspicious of you as it is. Wait until after dinner so we can talk in private."

"So I'll have time to change my mind?" he asked incredulously.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing won't work," Grace said with finality. "And there's no way we're putting any more people on this team in jeopardy. Now, come on. Get something to eat, and we'll talk after dinner."

Warren felt a little defeated as he stood up from the table and moved to get his food from the buffet style set-up of the mess hall. He found a seat by the windows, meaning to eat alone even though he wasn't very hungry, but Lisa found him after a few minutes, setting her tray in front of him.

"I heard about what happened with Amy," she said softly. "I'm sure she knows you didn't mean to hurt Ava."

He glanced around, nibbling on his re-hydrated carrots. "I really don't want to talk about this right now," he argued softly.

"But it wasn't your fault," she exclaimed gently.

"Yes, it was," he snapped. "I wasn't being careful enough, and I should've been thinking about what I was doing. Amy had every right to be mad at me. Ava's three days old, and I actually bit her. Whether it was an accident or not, sometimes, accidents get people killed. And I — I couldn't live with myself if something happened to them because of me."

"And Amy knows that," Lisa stressed. "Listen, I just wanted to tell you that Selfridge is watching you. So is Quaritch. I think your father finally got ahold of them. They're probably going to talk to you and Grace pretty soon."

"About what?" he asked, his curiosity piqued thoroughly by this turn of events.

"I don't know," Lisa shrugged. "Your father's still a high-ranking general with the militia back home, so he probably thinks you've been out here long enough and it's time for you to come home."

Warren huffed, still nibbling. "My father would think that, wouldn't he? Of course, it probably doesn't help that I never call him."

"No," she commented. "It doesn't. Why don't you call him anyway? I mean, I've known you for six and a half years, and I don't think I've ever asked."

"You'd have to ask him that," Warren retorted.

"I'm asking you," she shot back.

He glanced around the room, seeing several of the people he'd come to know on the base and realizing that more than half of them were part of SecOps. Then he bowed his head. "Let's just say I'm not out here only to piss him off. I'm out here because there wasn't anywhere else for me to go. When I signed up for the program, he did everything he could think of to keep me from finishing it. But by the time he started in on the scare tactics, I'd already passed 95% of the program's tests. I was in the 99th percentile, and they'd already done my DNA mapping. I was coming whether he liked it or not. Like I said, ask him why I don't talk to him. You might get an answer, you might not. But the second I stepped on the shuttle to come here, all his tactics had failed, and he knew he was never going to see me again. That was satisfaction enough without me signing up for a new tour. And plus, taking away his youngest son was the final straw to the stack. Now it's just him. Not my mother, God rest her soul. Not my brother or my sister. Just him, and he's got no one to blame but himself."

"Warren Watson!" a loud, stern voice yelled from across the mess hall.

He looked up to see Colonel Miles Quaritch and Parker Selfridge both standing on the other side, and he glanced at Lisa before he stood up and purposefully moved toward Grace's table. She followed him diligently, even as the two men tried to stop her.

"This is just for Mr. Watson, Grace," Parker said. "You don't need to be there."

"Well, I'm his boss," she hedged. "So I think I do need to be there."

"Oh, come on, lady," Quaritch complained grinning slightly. "What is it with these science pukes thinkin' they can throw their weight around because of those damned blue puppets they got out back?"

Warren took a step toward the Colonel, but Grace stopped him, obviously wanting to keep the heat on herself.

"Maybe it's all you Military assholes thinking you can order us around because you think you're protecting us from the big, bad forest out there? Huh, Ranger Rick?"

He stepped toward her, and Parker stopped him. "Hey, hey!" he shouted. "Let's just get this over with minus the impending bloodshed that's gonna stain the metal floors. Come on, Mr. Watson," he beckoned, leading the way slowly.

Warren followed him, eyeing Quaritch lethally and allowing Grace to step ahead of him as she also stared the Colonel down suspiciously. Quaritch finally stepped out of the mess hall, tailing the small group toward the Ops Center.

There wasn't a word really to describe what it felt like to follow Selfridge away from the Science module to where most of the night shift of control operators were currently settling in at their posts for the night. Warren had walked the plank before, several times at military school when he'd been a teenager, but this felt unusually different. He wasn't being sent to the Sergeant's office because of some stupid fight he'd gotten into with one of the other cadets about his crazy science projects. He knew Selfridge and Quaritch were going to talk to him about his father. Beyond that, he was just as oblivious as Grace. He could see she didn't like that.

Selfridge's office was just off the main section of the Ops Center where he had a complete view of the deck and the world outside. He showed Warren and Grace inside, allowing Quaritch into the room before he himself sat down behind his desk.

Parker Selfridge was a little older than Warren, even with the six-year cryosleep, but he held himself like a man twice his age. He was resolute and no-nonsense, a lot like Grace, except for the businessman weasel he tended to slide into whenever he was talking about the mining operations. With his blond hair trimmed short and his face clean-shaven, Selfridge was the perfect image of a Corporate Mogul. Warren just thought he looked like a weasel.

"So," Sefridge said, folding his hands together over his desk. "I've heard from your father, Mr. Watson."

While sitting in one of the chairs next to Grace, Warren crossed his arms defiantly. "Good for you," he retorted.

"Watch your mouth, son," Quaritch snapped. Warren looked at him incredulously.

"I'll talk however I want, Colonel," he remarked. "And I'm not your son. So don't call me that."

"Okay," Selfridge said. "That's enough. Mr. Watson. Your father's called today and given me very good grounds to discharge you from your tour. I have to admit I'm inclined to agree to his terms. I understand this is already your second tour, and that you put in for a stay about two and a half months ago. I'd like to know why."

Warren scoffed softly, glancing at Grace and then turning his accusing eyes in Quaritch's directions. "Not that it's really any of your business," he said looking at Selfridge. "But I wasn't finished with what I'm here to do. It might have escaped your business-like mind, but I do have a rather expensive piece of equipment out back that still needs my attention."

Warren hated referring to his avatar like that, but he knew it was the only thing Selfridge would understand. He knew the type. All Selfridge really cared about was money, and knowing that he would be wasting a twenty-million dollar avatar in Warren's absence would hit him harder than wanting to know why Warren wasn't going back to Earth.

The truth was that Warren considered this home now. He had for the last few years, and being around Amelia only made the feeling stronger. He knew neither Selfridge nor Quaritch knew about her, so the only excuse he really had was the use of his avatar. He didn't care that the Colonel didn't think it was serious enough to warrant attention. He didn't really care that his father didn't think it was important enough. And all Warren knew was that he wasn't going back now. He'd already invested too much to scratch the whole thing now.

"Oh, I know how expensive those damned things are," Selfridge quipped. "And I know how much it costs to get you into one of them. I also know how much it costs to keep you here longer than the six years you signed up for. So I'll ask you again. Why did you put in for a second tour? You didn't take any down time, like you were told. You didn't change divisions, like you were told. So what are you going to do for the next six years? Be a blue puppet?"

Warren opened his mouth to argue, but Grace stopped him.

"Actually, Mr. Watson is currently participating in one of my experiments," she said. "And it's just getting started. I need him here with me in his avatar, and you can't afford to send him back on the next shuttle since it won't actually be here for another six years anyway. He's helping me, and bullying him won't help him in the experiment."

Quaritch scoffed from his place at the back of the room. "Nobody said anything about bullying, doc," he chuckled. "The man just asked him a question. Mr. Watson got a problem answerin' it himself?"

Grace turned to the Colonel. "Selfridge knows better than I do that any person on my team has the option of continuing their time here until it's time for them to move on," she reminded them. "It's not my fault that most of my people decide to stay here a lot longer than any of yours. It's not my fault most of my people are still alive."

Quaritch took a step toward Grace, his hand moving deftly toward his side arm as it set strapped to his left thigh, and Warren stood up to face the Colonel, eye to eye with him and immediately on point.

"Think before you do that," Warren cautioned. "Because I might not look like one of your military jackasses, but I can promise you, I'm not some weakling. And I _will_ defend people who need defending. So step back and shut up."

Fuming, the Colonel clenched his fists, taking two steps back until he was again settled against the wall.

Grace again moved to stop Warren, grasping onto his arms and pulling him away from Quaritch.

"It's Warren's choice if he wants to stay here another tour," she said. "The only reason you called him in here is because his father is a general back home. Would either of you honestly be paying any attention to him otherwise?"

Selfridge looked at Quaritch, rising from his desk as Grace moved Warren toward the door.

"You go back to the lab," she ordered, pushing him to the doors as they swooshed open. "I'll be there in a minute."

He said nothing, glaring at Quaritch and then glancing at Selfridge before he stepped out of the office and made his way off the deck of the Ops Center. A couple of people looked at him as he left, but none of them said anything, and neither did he.

It took the entire trip back to the lab for him to calm down, and it was empty when he got there, further allowing him to ease the increase in his pulse he'd just experienced. If Grace hadn't stopped him, there was no telling what he would have done, and she wouldn't have been able to stop him then. Warren hated bullies, having had his fair share throughout most of his life. They were all cowards, and they all thought they were better than everyone else. At least Warren knew when to stop and when to admit when he was wrong. Being here had taught him that.

When Grace got back to the lab about half an hour after Warren sat down at the empty link control panels, she looked just about as pissed as he'd been upon leaving, and seeing him only seemed to make it worse.

"The next time you decide to stare down that son of a bitch," she griped, "try to give me a little bit of head start, so I can keep you from doing something stupid."

Warren opened his mouth to argue, but she stopped him.

"I know your father's some big, important general back home, but in here, you're in my world. You got that? I do not want you challenging Quaritch anymore. He's a sadistic bastard with the ability to undermine everything we're doing here, and I know that's the last thing you want. Right?"

Warren bowed his head, ashamed of his behavior. Then he nodded. "Right," he agreed.

She stepped in front of him, laying her hands over his shoulders. "All right, then. So we're both on the same page. Listen to me, Warren. I know how you feel about Amelia. And I know I'm not the first person to tell you how complicated that is. So whatever you're thinking about doing, don't. Please. It'll put you and her and Ava in danger, and I don't want to see any of you hurt."

Warren sighed heavily, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth. "Do you want those two bastards to stop watching me?" he asked her, lifting his eyes to hers. "Do you want them to lay off me so I can keep watching Amy so she's safe? Because the only way that's going to happen is if I stop using my link for six hours longer than anyone else around here. And there's only one way I'm going to stop using my link for that long. And you know how."

The realization in Grace's eyes was immediate. "We don't have anymore, Warren," she told him of Amelia's injections. "I gave the last one to Amelia three days ago, less than six hours before she gave birth."

"But you have all the specs," he argued. "And you've looked at it enough to know how to make more. Not for everyone. Just me. Please, Grace. I want her to see me. This me," he said laying his hand over his chest. "Not that me out there. This is the only way I can do it. And she's proof that it works."

"It took her months before she could step outside without a mask on," Grace stressed. "And I had to be with her the whole time. Who else is going to do that for you? I can't."

"I'll do it," Lisa said, now standing at the edge of the room.

Grace sighed heavily, rising to face the exobotanist as she eased into the room slowly. "How long have you been standing there?" Grace demanded softly.

Lisa shrugged. "Long enough. But if Warren needs someone to help him do this, I will." She stepped in front of him, also laying her hand over his shoulder. "Maybe then he can surprise Amelia when she sees what he's willing to do for her. So she won't be alone."

Warren blushed slightly, grinning appreciatively as he looked at Grace again.

She looked at the two of them, glancing around the lab to make sure they were all alone. Then she spoke. "All right," she said. "But we're going to take this slow. We'll have to do circulatory scans and respiratory scans to make sure we don't do any damage. And you're going to have to get more rest," she told Warren squeezing his shoulder.

He bowed his head again, agreeing to her terms.

"Okay. Now both of you, get to bed. We've had enough excitement for one day."

She stepped away from Warren, and Lisa pulled him to his feet, exiting the lab slowly as she nudged him along.

* * *

**So a slightly longer chapter than normal, but a good one I think. You tell me what you think. **

**Onto the definitions, since there's really only one:**

_**Eywa ngahu - Eywa be with you (Amelia blesses her daughter with these words)**_

**So sorry for the long wait, but it couldn't be avoided.**

**Until next time, Keep Calm and Carry on!  
**


	16. Filling the Gaps, Part II

**Moving on, but we're still in the past here. And there's even a little in here worthy of the M rating, but nothing too racy. This part is mostly about Amelia, Ava's mother, and there's a bit about Jake. Don't get thrown off by any of Jake's answers either, that's a little hint. I'm not sure about anyone else, but I feel like when he's talking about his birthday at the end of the movie, it's his Na'vi birthday. Tell me if you agree with me.**

**Furthermore, I do not own Avatar. I do however own any character that doesn't look familiar to you as of yet. Tell me if you like these characters and if you care what happens to them.**

**Also keep an open mind. Other than that, Read on!  
**

* * *

_**Filling the Gaps, Part II**_

At six months old, while most babies were just learning how to sit up and stay there, Avamelia Darrin Shaw was starting to crawl. Since being born, she'd grown twice as fast as a Human baby, thanks to the Na'vi genetics pumping through her blood. Amelia had given her a proper name less than a week after her birth, and now they had records that said she was just as much a part of the base as the most normal person in the database. Most of the avatar drivers were very protective of Amelia and Ava, and there wasn't much they wouldn't do to keep them safe — that usually included keeping them hidden from most of the science team that didn't usually come outside. Dr. Max Patel was part of the group they'd decided to keep her existence from since he still had to report to Selfridge about the program when Grace wouldn't.

Like most babies, Ava was curious, especially with the electronic equipment strewn around the Long-house. Most everyone tried to put things up when they were done with them, but there was always a stray info pad or nerve scanner that she found. She always put it in her mouth. Amelia had to watch her whenever it was really early and really late, since the guards had started showing up before the sun came up and not leaving until after the sun went down. But it was easy enough to keep her hidden during the day.

In six months, Grace had increased her rate of measurements for Ava, doing it in the morning and at night instead of just once a day. Ava grew so fast that it was amazing they were able to keep clothes on her. It was difficult enough to get baby clothes into the lab without anyone asking what they were for, but special diapers for her tail were the strangest item she had ever requested. She was lucky no one really thought it was that strange.

At six months old, Ava was already three times the size she'd been at birth, weighing in just under 40 pounds and measuring almost 75 inches long. Her stripes had grown along with her, and her markings had started to appear when she was only a month old. Grace and Lisa had taken pictures to map them. Her queue had grown also, and with every new centimeter, it had to be rebraided to keep it neat, and her tails stripes had darkened to match the stripes on the rest of her little body. She liked to sit with her mother in the garden, and she also liked to play with Lisa and Warren in the long-house.

Warren was still using his avatar for almost 18 hours a day, but Amelia noticed that he was also outside with his exopack a lot more often. It seemed like he wanted Ava to know him in his Human body too, and after six months, Amelia had to admit to herself that she didn't mind anymore. As long as he didn't get attached, Amelia didn't see the problem with him spending time with her daughter.

Lisa was also outside in her exopack a lot more, but she said it was because she wanted to stretch her Human legs as often as her avatar legs. Amelia could only guess using the nine-foot-tall body for six years had started to get a little cumbersome. She didn't know what that felt like, not really.

"We need to have a picnic," Lisa said as they all sat in the long-house with Ava while she played with a set of key cards.

"Why?" Amelia asked.

"She's six months old, Amy!" Lisa exclaimed. "This is a milestone. We can pick some fruit and make some juice. I'm sure Grace can steal some food from the mess hall. Warren might even come."

Amelia automatically scanned the courtyard, discovering Warren on the basketball court with a few of the other avatar drivers. His blue skin shimmered with perspiration in the bright sunlight, and his muscles flexed beneath his skin. His queue swished in every direction as he blocked one of the other guys and stole the ball, and his tail twitched from side to side as he jumped to make the goal.

He yelled euphorically, and slapping hands with another guy who was apparently on his team, and Amelia smiled as she watched him. His attitude had improved the last six months since Ava had been born, and she hoped it wasn't selfish of her to think her daughter had something to with that.

"Warren would definitely come," Lisa amended, and Amelia looked at her to see a knowing smile on her face.

Amelia blushed, lowering her eyes to Ava as she watched the two of them.

"I know you watch him," Lisa accused softly, laughing once. "And I know he's starting to break through that barrier you've put up. It's only a matter of time, Amy."

"Before what, Lisa?" she asked softly. "Before what?"

Lisa reached out for her face and touched her cheek with a gentle blue finger. "You know what, sweetie. And that's okay."

Amelia lifted her eyes to look at Warren again, discovering he was now on his way toward her, but she didn't say anything to Lisa. She didn't know what to say. She didn't even know if it was fair.

"Hey," Warren called, jogging toward them slowly. "How are my girls?"

"_Your_ girls are doing just fine," Lisa teased even as Ava reached for him from Amelia's lap. "It looks like one of them wants you right now."

Warren smiled widely, reaching for Ava and gently lifting her in his strong arms. She giggled loudly as he held her over his head, and Lisa tried to shush them.

"Be quiet!" she whispered. "The guards are still out."

He held Ava close then, allowing her to grasp onto his finger as he squatted down in front of Lisa and Amelia. "Sorry," he said softly. "Guess I can't help myself. She's just gotten so big!"

"Well, Mr. Obvious," Lisa remarked. "She's only going to get bigger. Grace says she'll be at least two meters tall."

He widened his eyes, lifting Ava above his head again. "My gosh, she'll be a midget compared to me." He paused, looking at Amelia. "Well, this version of me anyway. But she'll still be the most beautiful girl out here. Won't you?" he cooed, nudging her nose with his.

Lisa laughed, scooting closer to Amelia and easing her long blue arms around her. "I was talking to Amy about a picnic for Ava. I told her you might come."

"Oh, I'll be on the planning committee," he declared, cradling Ava in his arms gently. "We wanna do this tonight after the guards are gone?"

"I didn't even think of that," Lisa said nudging Amelia slightly. "One of us should probably talk to Grace."

She barely paused a few seconds, rising to step back inside the long-house. "I guess I will," she said nonchalantly. "See you two later."

It got quiet as Warren still crouched in front of Amelia, and within a few minutes, Lisa's avatar became silent. It only took him another minute or so to sit on the steps below hers as he still held Ava.

"I'm going to get her to work on her subtlety," he said after almost a minute, looking at Amelia as he sat there in shorts and shoes. "Or maybe I need to work on mine."

Amelia sighed softly, purposefully keeping her hands folded in front of her as she watched everyone else mill about the courtyard. "Your subtlety is fine," she told him.

"So you've noticed me trying to get your attention the last six months," he said sheepishly.

Amelia nodded.

"And?" he asked.

"Warren, please," she said softly. "I'm – I don't think I'm ready."

"Ready for what? I'm not talking eternity here, Amy. I just want to be here for you, like I could've been a long time ago."

"But you are here for me," Amelia insisted. "You have been for the last eight months. That's more than I ever hoped for when I first got here. I guess that's why Grace wanted me to talk to Tom. So I wouldn't be alone. And the day I found out he was gone, I don't think I'd ever felt more alone in my life. But you and Lisa make it better. Ava makes it better. I guess I don't want to go through what I went through again. I don't think I could handle being alone again."

Warren reached for her, touching her face gently and making her look at him. "You're not alone, Amy," he promised. "And I'm not going anywhere. I swear."

"He promised too," she said softly. "And he died. I know I won't ever feel like he's really gone, but I don't think I'll ever really let go of him. And I'll always wish for him to be here. I don't think I could do that to you –"

Soft lips touched hers lightly, halting her words as Warren leaned closer to kiss her. She was overwhelmed by his closeness, but also by his enormousness. It had been more than six years since anyone had kissed her – sixteen months if you only counted the time she hadn't been in cryosleep. She'd never imagined a nine-and-a-half-foot tall man would be kissing her now, and she instinctively nudged him away.

"Warren," she whispered.

He sighed softly, laying his forehead over hers. "I'm sorry," he whispered back.

Amelia inhaled deeply, leaning back to look at him and seeing the wounded look on his face like the one he'd had the day he'd accidently bitten Ava. But Amelia didn't want him to be sorry. "For what?"

He leaned closer. "I didn't want it to be like this," he said softly. He gestured to his chest. "I mean, like this. I wanted to kiss you myself, in my real body."

"This is your real body," she pressed, touching his chest as he still did. "You have two real bodies, Warren. Don't ever be sorry for anything you do in either of them. Not when you're with me. But I'm not ready," she said again. "Not right now."

"Then when?"

She lifted her hand to his face. "You'll be the first to know."

He didn't say anything else, again laying his forehead against hers as he still held Ava in his arms.

* * *

The soft whir of servos above his head woke Jake as he floated inside his cryochamber, and for several seconds, he was confused. He couldn't remember how he'd gotten in here, and he couldn't remember how to get out. The last thing he did remember was watching a guy in a rubber apron with arm protectors push his brother cardboard coffin into a furnace to cremate his body. How long ago had that been? It felt like yesterday.

What should have felt like cold fluid rushing through his torso was actually kind of warm, and he didn't understand. He opened his eyes, seeing a soft blue light surrounding him as he hovered inside the chamber, and within seconds, the chamber opened, allowing him to slide out into the wide bay of cryo-chambers surrounding him. But his was the only one open.

"Hang on there, sport," he heard and lifted his eyes to see a tech floating toward him slowly.

"Are we there?" Jake asked hoarsely.

The guy grinned, looking at the attachment over Jake's chest and then his arm. "Uh, not exactly. You're not supposed to be awake, champ."

"What day is this?" he asked, looking around to see another tech coming closer with a medical case.

"What happened?" the second tech asked, bracing herself against the frame at Jake's left and then opening the case.

"Temperature spiked, overriding the controls. Not sure what triggered it though. What should we do, Carter?"

The female tech, Carter, sighed heavily, taking a set of gauges from her case and easing them over Jake's head. "Brain activity's high," she reported.

"What's going on?" Jake asked softly. "What day is this?"

"Heart rate and respiratory are both high. This is unusual. What's his name?"

"Jake Sully. He's a replacement, so he might not have been through the regular training everyone else went through."

She eased closer to him, touching his face with a gloved hand, and he looked at her. Then she looked at the first tech. "I'll get Zander," she said. "Keep him calm."

She floated away, and Jake spoke again. "How long have we been out here?" he asked the first tech.

"About a year," he responded. "But don't worry. You won't remember this. Relax. Dr. Paulson will be here in just a minute, and then we'll know what to do."

In the few minutes it took Carter and Dr. Paulson to come back, the tech waiting remained above Jake, keeping him strapped in and reassuring him that even though this had never happened before, it wouldn't be happening again.

"What happened here?" the doctor with Carter asked, floating above Jake slowly. "What's your name, son?"

Jake looked around him, a little less disoriented than he had been a few minutes earlier. "Jake Sully," he replied.

"Okay. I'm Dr. Zander Paulson. I'm going to do a cognitive exam on you before we put you back under. Okay?"

"Okay, but how am I awake now anyway?" Jake asked.

"We're not sure," Dr. Paulson said, shining a small penlight in Jake's eyes. "But we're going to make sure it doesn't happen again. Do you know where you are?"

"Uh, I'm on the shuttle. I'm awake, and I'm not supposed to be."

"Do you know where you're going?" Dr. Paulson asked.

Jake became aware of his dry mouth, and he tried to moisten his lips unsuccessfully. "Pandora," he said softly.

"What's your full name?"

He had to think about that one, even though it should have been easy. "Jacob Jason Sully," he replied after about a minute.

"And the names of your family members?"

Again he had to think. "My brother's name is Thomas Michael Sully," he said after a minute. "My mother's name is Judy, and my father's name is James."

"What's your birth date?"

"June 16," he said, huffing at the feeling of disorientation as it began to return.

"And how old are you?"

Jake lifted his eyes to Dr. Paulson's. "I'm 22."

The doctor smiled, patting Jake's shoulder. "Okay."

Dr. Paulson nodded toward Carter, and they quickly moved in with a new set of monitors.

"How did I wake up?" Jake asked, watching them remove one set of monitors, clean the skin on his arm and then attach a new set within just a couple of minutes. For this to be an uncommon occurrence, they sure did handle it well enough.

"It's not important," Dr. Paulson said, gesturing to a fourth person waiting a few chambers away to come forward. "It's possible your nervous system wasn't ready, and it's also possible we didn't prepare you properly for the length of time your body was set to be in your chamber."

"But he said this hasn't happened before," Jake said pointing to the first tech whose name he still didn't know. "I don't wanna be some kinda guinea pig or somethin', doc."

Dr. Paulson laid his hand over Jake's shoulder, reassuring him. "Don't worry, Mr. Sully. You're not going to be a guinea pig. And even if this hasn't happened before, we're trained for every contingency of cryosleep. Some people just don't adjust to it as well as others. It's okay. We're going to get you back inside, and it'll be smooth sailing from then on. I promise."

The fourth and final person to attend Jake moved into place, recalibrating the controls on his chamber and then giving him an injection. A familiar feeling assailed Jake's senses, causing him to grimace painfully. Cold liquid flooded his torso quickly, and he lifted his eyes to Dr. Paulson's. The man's face was still in focus, but there was something else just passed his head that caught Jake's attention.

Usually, Jake's imagination was kept in check thanks to the planet he'd grown up on, but being in a year's worth of cryosleep must have kicked the damn thing into high gear because Jake could swear he was seeing trees growing out of the ships hull. There were even flowers blooming.

"Mr. Sully," Dr. Paulson said, his voice distorted and distant. The trees began to fill the bay, and pretty soon, all Jake could see were trees and flowers. These trees weren't like the trees back home. They were enormous and tangled together like a network of wires dependant on each other for survival.

It got dark again, and then it was black.

But for a split second that felt like it lasted for several minutes, he felt like he was flying. Cool wind hit his face, making his eyes water slightly, but he couldn't imagine doing anything more exhilarating. Jake realized he was dreaming, but it wasn't supposed to be possible in cryosleep. Was it?

* * *

At a year old, Ava looked like she was two, and she did the running to prove it, especially when it was time for a bath. Amelia had already invested in a small fenced in area behind the long-house where Ava could run around and play, but it only worked in keeping the toddler contained for a few hours. Mostly, she jumped over the fence and tried to run away. Lisa and Warren were always really good about catching her before she could get too far. Grace was also keeping an eye on Ava so the guards who patrolled in the mornings and evenings wouldn't spot her from the towers and fences. It was just luck that trees and brush kept the southwest corner of the long-house hidden from the guards.

With Ava growing so fast, they'd started dressing her in long dresses and rubber soled shoes to keep her feet from getting scraped up. Her hair grew faster than it seemed possible, and it was already passed her shoulders, keeping her long braid slightly camouflaged. Amelia called the stripes on Ava's face, arms and legs "paint" so that when she pointed to it, she wouldn't say it was real. One day, when Ava was able to understand, Amelia would tell her.

At almost nine months old, Ava had said her first word, calling Amelia "mama," with Lisa and Warren close by. In three months, they'd tried to teach her names, but so far, she could only say, "Lia" and "Warn." Grace was already talking about putting together pads to teach Ava with pictures in English and Na'vi, but she told Amelia it would be probably another year before that. Amelia wasn't in a hurry.

"Before you know it, she'll be all grown up," Lisa said to Amelia that day as they sat in the shade of the trees watching Ava play with her various toys which included a lot of equipment she'd herself broken by coating them in dirt, water and saliva.

Amelia inhaled deeply. "I know," she admitted. "But I don't want to think about that right now. Right now, I just want to take it one day at a time."

Lisa smiled, nudging Amelia playfully. "Kind of like you and Warren," she teased.

"Lisa, come on," Amelia pleaded.

"But I see the two of you, Amy," Lisa whispered softly. "I see the two of you with Ava. It's almost like you two were always supposed to be her parents. Well, with him in his avatar anyway. How else would we explain the blue stripes?" she giggled.

Amelia sighed heavily, glancing around to see the others in the courtyard going about their activities and then discovering Warren in the garden shirtless and barefoot as he tilled the dirt gently with his fingers. He'd started doing that a lot recently since Ava had started getting bigger, and she still liked to help him. It was easier for her to hold the gardening tools and identify the ones he needed when he asked for them. She learning so fast. She never let her queue or her tail get in the way. And since everyone else had those things, she never felt strange.

"Grace is talking about getting her some new clothes," Lisa said of Ava. "She'll have to start wearing underwear and shorts pretty soon."

"So she can run around and attract attention?" Amelia inquired with a smile.

Lisa chuckled softly as Ava came barreling up to the porch, almost knocking Amelia over as she slammed into her.

"Mama!" she exclaimed.

"Ava, honey, shh," Amelia whispered as Lisa helped her sit back up.

Ava laid her head over Amelia's shoulder, whispering softly. "Mama."

Amelia kissed her forehead. "I know, baby. I know."

"She's so beautiful, Amy," Lisa admired gently.

Amelia didn't respond, but she silently agreed. She silently wished for Tom to see it, but she knew she was in the wrong place to want that wish to come true. And she knew it wasn't fair to Warren to still want it, but she couldn't keep herself from thinking about him or wondering what would have happened if he hadn't been killed. Even after a year, she couldn't really believe he was gone, and his brother was on his way in his place.

"Amy," Lisa whispered, and Amelia looked at her. "I know you still miss him, and I guess I can understand that. But honey, if I had someone like Warren here who was willing to love me now, I think I'd want that more than someone who was on another planet or someone who wasn't going to be here when I really needed them. And Dr. Sully is gone. Miss him. Keep him as close to your heart as you can, but give someone else a chance to make you happy."

Just like every night when it got dark, Grace gathered all the avatars in the long-house to get to bed, and surprisingly, Lisa and Warren were among them tonight even though they hadn't been getting down with the others for months if not the last year. Amelia was finishing with Ava's bath, and she had a small light by her bed that allowed her to watch everyone lay down for the night. She'd gotten Ava into the habit of laying down with them so she wouldn't be tempted to go around poking at them during the night.

"Amy," Grace called from the doors, "good night."

Amelia smiled as she braided Ava's hair. "Good night, Grace."

The rest of the lights switched off, and Amelia finished with Ava's hair before helping her into her bed.

"Mama," Ava whispered reaching for Amelia's face.

Amelia kissed her daughter's hands, touching her face and whispering back. "Go to sleep, baby. I'm right here."

She laid one of Ava's stuffed toys in the bed, and the little girl turned away from the light, closing her eyes and relaxing to go to sleep.

It got quiet as the sixteen or seventeen sleeping bodies around her began breathing peacefully, and the only real sound she could hear was the insects and birds outside the fences. She moved to where she kept her clothes, finding a night gown to sleep in before she removed her shirt and shorts to pull the night gown over her head.

"Hey," she heard and turned her head to see Warren on the other side of the doors in his exopack. "You mind letting me in?"

Amelia was still for several seconds, wondering silently how long he'd been standing there. Then she moved to the doors, using a crane to unlock the magnetic lock so Warren could step through.

"It's late," she said. "What are you doing out here?"

"Felt like defying the guards," he said softly as they moved through the dim light her own lamp created to where her corner of the long-house was situated. "They're leaving anyway, so it wasn't that hard."

"But you know no one's supposed to be outside past curfew," she told him, brushing her hair as he sat on her bed.

"You're outside," he said obviously. "And so is Ava."

Amelia sighed softly, pulling her own hair into a braid and then sitting on the bed in front of him. "Well, we're out here because of extenuating circumstances," she informed him. "And plus, not a lot of people know about me or Ava. So it's easy for us to break a few rules. I thought Selfridge and Quaritch were watching you. I don't want you in any trouble," she pleaded even as he touched her face to make her look at him.

"Amy," he whispered.

"Yes?"

"You're worth it," he told her.

She smiled and bowed her head, lifting her hand to his.

He lifted his other hand to his head, and Amelia heard the soft hiss of his exopack a second before she looked up to see him removing his mask and then putting the pack away.

"Warren, what are you doing?" she hissed. "You know you're not supposed to do that. You know you can't breathe out here!"

She reached for his pack, but he stopped her, leaning closer to her and caressing the tip of her nose with his before he laid his lips on hers to kiss her for the first time in six months since he'd kissed her in his avatar. The moment he leaned back and inhaled deeply, Amelia was intrigued.

"Actually," he whispered against her lips. "I _can_ breathe out here."

"How?" she begged.

He eased his strong arms around her, holding her close and kissing her again. "Grace helped. So did Lisa. After what happened with Ava that day, I knew I was spending too much time out here in the wrong body. Selfridge and Quaritch _were_ watching me. And they still kind of are. I knew if I didn't do something, they'd find out about you, and I couldn't allow that. I couldn't allow them to find out about you and Ava and do something stupid. And I'm apparently about as subtle as a banshee, since both Lisa and Grace knew what I was feeling before I even said anything. So they helped me do this, so I could be with you like this."

"But your avatar," Amelia whispered. "I thought you liked being in your avatar."

He laid his forehead over hers, inhaling again it appeared to breathe her into him, and he held her closer. "I do like to use my avatar. To play basketball and run through the obstacle course. I honestly wouldn't be able to do those things without it. But I love spending time with you and Ava more. And I realized that I wanted to be with you more than I wanted to play basketball or run through the obstacle course. I want to be able to kiss you and touch you and hold you without worrying I might hurt you because my arms are too strong or my teeth are too sharp. Does that make sense?"

"I guess so," she admitted. "But Warren, this is dangerous. You could get caught, or you could die. And I couldn't live with myself if I caused you to get in trouble or if I got you killed. I can't go through that again."

He lifted his hand to the back of her head. "Don't worry about me," he pleaded. "I'll be okay, and I can hold my own against those military-corporate assholes. I have something worth fighting for, but when they get everything they want from this place, they'll leave, like they left Earth."

"But — "

He kissed her again, laying her back over her bed and laying his body over hers. Amelia forgot what she was going to say, holding onto Warren with both her arms and wondering why she'd pushed him away for so long. It didn't make sense anymore.

* * *

"_Amelia, honey."_

Lisa's voice drifted into her ear from a far distance away, and the first thing she knew was the feeling of Warren's arms around her. She opened her eyes to see Lisa in front of her with a worried look on her face, and she sat up still wearing her night gown.

"What's wrong?" she asked sleepily.

"Um, I came out to get Warren, but I can't get him to wake up. He's only supposed to be out here a few hours until we can get his tolerance levels up passed 200%, and right now, it's just over a hundred."

Amelia turned to Warren, seeing him still, and she hurried, helping Lisa lift him off the bed in an effort to wake him up. They were outside about halfway between the long-house and the airlock when he finally started to come around, and he opened his eyes, confused.

"What's going on?" he asked softly.

"We're taking you back inside, Warren," Lisa told him. "You know you're not supposed to be out here very long."

"But I — "

He collapsed immediately, and they both fell with him.

Amelia grabbed his face, yelling as loud as she could. "Warren! Don't do this now! Please!"

"Where's his exopack?" Lisa asked frantically.

"In the long-house," Amelia exclaimed. "I can't give him air, Lisa. What do I do?"

"Keep talking to him. I'll be right back."

Lisa was on her feet and running within a second, hurrying back to the long-house while Amelia sat above Warren.

"Warren," Amelia shouted in his face. "Please! Come on! I love you, please!"

She slapped his face, trying to jostle his torso and shake some oxygen inside his body, but it didn't work. "Please," she whispered. "Don't die on me!"

Lisa returned to where they'd fallen after another minute, and with time running out, she laid the mask of the exopack on Warren's face, pressurizing it and watching as he began breathing again. He inhaled deeply, opening his eyes as he laid on the ground.

"What . . . happened?" he asked in between breaths.

"You passed out," Lisa told him, easing her fingers through his hair and nodding to Amelia so they could help him sit up. "Guess we're gonna have to make an alarm or something so you'll come in when you're supposed to."

Warren looked at Amelia, and he saw how scared she was. "I'm sorry," he whispered, pulling her closer. "I should have been more careful."

"Breathe," she pleaded. "It's okay. Just breathe."

They all sat outside for another ten minutes, allowing Warren the chance to get some of his strength back, and once they were on their way back inside, he leaned on Amelia closely, allowing Lisa to lead the way as he whispered to Amelia softly.

"Did you say what I think you said?" he asked, and she looked at him, seeing the crooked smile on his face she'd grown accustomed to.

"You heard me?" she whispered. "You weren't unconscious?"

He leaned closer, squeezing her as they arrived at the airlock to the ambient room.

Grace was waiting with her own exopack, and Lisa helped Amelia lay Warren over one of the gurneys before Grace leaned over him.

"You know you're not supposed to fall asleep out there," she chastised, and he sighed softly beneath his mask.

"Yeah. I know."

"So next time — "

"I'll be more careful," he promised. "I'm not going to let this one time set me back another three months. Just let me catch my breath, okay?"

They waited another few minutes, and after Grace was sure he wouldn't pass out again, she helped him remove his mask so she could look at his eyes. As expected, he'd burst a few capillaries, but it wasn't as bad as she'd been thinking.

"Okay," she said. "Back to your room. We'll start back up again tomorrow."

"I'll take him," Amelia said, helping him up from the gurney and moving toward the airlock that would take them back into the lab where most everyone else was clearing out for the night.

No one paid them any attention, and Amelia guided Warren to the corridor outside the lab before she spoke.

"You could have told me," she chided. "I would have liked to know you were experimenting on yourself for my sake."

"You would have told me to stop," he said certainly, still leaning on her as they walked. "And I _was_ being watched. I was spending too much time in my avatar as it was, and when my father called Selfridge, he tried to find out why I was staying for a second tour. I didn't tell them, because it wasn't their business. But I don't intend on going back." He stopped in the corridor, turning to face her and lifting his hands to her face. "_This_ is my home now, Amy. _You're_ my home. And I'm never leaving you. I'm going to do whatever I have to do to make sure of that. Okay?"

Amelia lifted her hands to his arms, feeling bad for pushing him away but understanding for the first time in over a year. "How long have you felt this way?" she asked softly.

He grinned. "Probably since the day I met you when you were still pregnant with Ava. As strange as that may sound. I — I don't feel like she's some strange Na'vi's child. I feel like she's mine. Like we had her together. I love you, Amy. I love her. I always will."

Amelia breathed in deep, taking in his scent and allowing it to fill her lungs as he leaned down and kissed her again. She whispered softly as he let go. "I love you too, Warren."

Since being brought into Amelia's experiment, Grace had given Lisa and Warren single habitats so they're bunkmates wouldn't ask why they were spending so much time in their avatars. Warren's room was dim except for the wall lights that illuminated the floor, and he switched on the main lights as Amelia helped him inside. She sat him on his bed, and he continued to breathe in as deep as he could while Amelia found him some water in his fridge.

"Here," she said softly, handing him a bottle of water and sitting on the bed next to him.

Warren took the bottle, taking a long swig before he set the bottle on the table next to his bed where his clock currently reported the time. "After oh-two-hundred," he stated. "That's longer than I've been out there before."

She saw his grin, but she wasn't impressed. "And we see how you did, passing out and scaring all of us half to death."

He blushed, fidgeting steadily.

Amelia eased her arm over his back, leaning closer to him. "I'm glad you want to do this to be with me," she whispered, and he looked at her. "And I'm happy you want to do this for Ava. But you have to take care of yourself. Please?"

He lifted his hand to her face, leaning closer to her and easing his face into hers until his nose and lips touched hers. He kissed her gently, lifting his other hand to her cheek and slowly deepening his kiss.

No one had ever kissed Amelia like this in her whole life, not even when she'd been a teenager and got her first kiss from her science lab partner when she was fifteen. She knew this kiss was different from every other kiss she'd ever had in her life, and it meant more to her than she was willing to admit that it was Warren giving it to her. What he was doing for her and her daughter meant more to her than she would have realized had she not ever found out. Of course, that had probably been his plan all along — to spring it on her so she couldn't stop him, because she would have just so she could be selfish with his presence in her life.

He eased his hands down the sides of her body, grasping onto her waist and gently pulling her closer until she was sitting over his legs as he sat over the edge of the bed. Amelia allowed her instincts to rule her actions, reaching for the hem of his shirt and pulling it over his head more fluidly than she thought possible. He didn't stop her. Why would he? He'd probably been wanting this for the last year or so of her daughter's life. The only difference now was that Amelia wanted it too. She'd grieved long enough. It was time for her to move on with her life.

Warren's skin was smoother than she'd expected, since she hadn't really taken any time to feel it. His muscles reacted to her touch, twitching and flexing as she caressed his spine and combed her fingers through his short hair. It wasn't too short on the top, but it was short enough in the back for her to feel the nape of his neck. He leaned back just a little, allowing the tip of his nose and lips to brush against hers, and it only took a single nod for her to tell him what she wanted. They'd only slept in each other's arms earlier, reveling in this new ability of his to breathe the air outside. Now that they were safe inside, Amelia only wanted one thing. And it was obvious he wanted it too. There was no reason for them not to, and there was no one to stop them.

He reached out then, turning off the lights in his room except for the floor lights since those were on auto, and in one fluid movement, he lifted her in his arms and laid her over the bed. Amelia stayed with him as he adjusted his body over hers as he'd done before, grasping onto his arms and allowing him to unfasten the front of her night gown. His fingers were gentle and certain, and Amelia was sure for the first time in her life that nothing was ever going to feel this good.

Once the front of her body was exposed to the cool air of his room, Amelia took matters into her own hands, reaching for the waist of his pants and unfastening them with trembling hands. It felt like an eternity had passed since she'd done anything like this, and she wanted to do it right.

Slowly, she reached back to the table beside his bed, turning the light back on and seeing his surprised expression. "I want to see you," she whispered.

He didn't protest, holding her close to him and kissing her as completely as he could.

"Do you trust me?" he whispered, his lips hovering above hers precariously.

She lifted her hands to his face, allowing him to situate himself above her as she whispered back. "You have to ask?"

He caressed the tip of her nose with his. "Well, I did kind of scare you tonight, and I can't promise it won't happen again while I'm adjusting."

"You just take care of yourself," she ordered softly, easing the tip of her fingers along his lips slowly. "Because I couldn't handle it if anything happened to you. And I think you know that now."

He laid his forehead against hers, kissing her lightly and gently pulling her nightgown from her shoulders until she was completely bare beneath him. Amelia absently still wondered if he'd watched her change earlier from the doors of the long-house since she knew it was possible. He'd been watching her for so long now. It was time she started watching him for a change, even though she'd been doing it secretly for a little while now.

Her hands worked on their own, uncovering his bare backside and instantly being rewarded with his smooth skin. He shivered slightly, faltering in his kiss as he pressed the front of his face into her. Their breath mingled completely, and he rested his arms above her head to cradle her face in his hands.

"I've wanted this for a very long time," he breathed, still kissing her and reacting to her touch involuntarily.

"Warren," she whispered, pushing his pants off with her feet so they were both naked. "Shut up."

It was the last thing that was said before things got serious, and with the door to his room locked, no one would be able to bother them as they laid claim to each other in a way only they could. Nothing else mattered outside this room. No one else mattered outside the two of them. For the first time in a year, Amelia focused on herself and on this man she'd come to love so much more than she thought possible. She was happy for the first time in over a year, and she never wanted that to change.

* * *

**Not too bad of an inside view of Amelia and Warren's blossoming relationship, right? And again, try not to think too hard about Jake's answers. I got to thinking, 'who says no one ever wakes up from cryo before they're supposed to?' Hence the little scene with Jake, but I promise there is a good reason why he woke up.**

**The next part will bring back a familiar face, and the next to last chapter where we delve into the past for the time being. Tell me what you think of this here chapter and where you think it's going.**

**No definitions this time, but I promise, I've got a catalog on its way.**

**Thanks for the reviews, alerts and favorites. I really appreciate them!**

**Until next time, Keep Calm & Carry on!  
**


	17. Filling the Gaps, Part III

**This is going to be the next to last trip we take down memory lane, and I hope you like it as much as I liked writing. We're seeing a familiar face here like we did before, and I think everyone will agree with me when I say that it was wrong when Trudy was killed.**

**Thanks for the reviews, favorites and alerts. I really appreciate them. **

**I don't own Avatar. But it's an awesome movie, with awesome characters and an awesome story.  
**

* * *

_**Filling the Gaps, Part III**_

Trudy Chacon had come to Pandora for two reasons, and two reasons only. She was being very well paid, and she got to fly one of the most versatile aircraft they could offer a fresh captain in the Marine Corps just come off a major war in Venezuela. After signing up for her first tour and spending six years in cryo to get to the alien moon that orbited Polyphemus, Trudy had arrived ready to serve the company in any way she possibly could. And quite honestly, she'd been looking to get out of the killing business, so being volunteered to fly the science teams on all their missions was a blessing in disguise. Sure, she still had obligations to the Colonel, and she had to do what she was told. But if someone had asked her upon arriving if she would end up enjoying her job, she would have told them they were crazy. Honestly, who liked flying science geeks all over an alien rainforest for useless research missions? Honestly, Trudy liked it. She liked it a lot.

So when the head of the Avatar Program, Dr. Grace Augustine, came to Trudy with a special request for a new sortie, the young pilot didn't even blink. "I'm all yours," she said proudly.

"Good," Dr. Augustine said as she guided Trudy through the labyrinth of hallways toward the science module where most of the geeks were running around with lab coats on and information pads in their hands.

"So, doc," Trudy said as they walked. "What's this new sortie? We gonna be flyin' somewhere new?"

"Uh, not exactly," Grace said, moving toward the airlock and allowing Trudy inside so she could close the door and hand the pilot an exopack. "But you'll definitely be seeing something new. All I ask is that you keep an open mind, Ms. Chacon. And I'd also like to keep this between us. It's important that only a few people know about this, and as of now, you're a part of a very small group."

Trudy took in all of this with a grain of salt, thinking of the first time she'd actually seen the avatars in the Compound. They were . . . impressive to say the least, and the fact that Dr. Augustine was letting her in on this new sortie meant it was something important. Immediately, Trudy hoped she didn't do anything to mess it up.

They were outside a few minutes later, weaving their way through the several avatars in the courtyard doing various activities. Trudy had been out here a few times in the short time she'd been here, but watching the nine-foot-tall bodies around her running, climbing and playing basketball was still a little bit of a shock. Most of the avatars were too busy to notice Trudy as she walked through the obstacle course with Dr. Augustine, but she was on point the whole time, keeping her eyes on everything so she didn't accidently step in the path of a very tall body that could easily crush her. Dr. Augustine saw her caution and laughed softly.

"Relax, Ms. Chacon," she insisted. "You're safe out here."

Trudy laughed too. "That's easy for you to say, doc. And please, call me Trudy."

Dr. Augustine glanced at her, smiling. "Of course. If you'll call me Grace."

"With pleasure," Trudy agreed.

Grace nodded, guiding Trudy through the garden and then revealing the front of the long-house where the avatars laid down for the night. Trudy expected to see avatars entering and exiting the building, but what she didn't expect was to see three people who were about her size sitting on the steps without exopacks on. The young man looked about her age, and he looked familiar with his dark blond hair that was a little longer on top than it was in the back. Trudy realized she'd seen him talking to some of the other SecOps guys, but he'd been wearing a mask at the time. How was he able to breathe outside now?

The young woman with him was younger than Trudy with her long light-dark brown hair pulled back in a loose braid that almost reached her waist. She had a nice face and a friendly smile, but she didn't look familiar at all. She looked completely at home as she laughed with the young man. They were both holding a little girl who looked like she was about eight, but the little girl had light brown hair passed her shoulders and a long braid that lined her back. Trudy also noticed a striped tail whipping behind the little girl, and for a few seconds, she thought it had to be a kid thing.

"Remember that open mind I was talking about?" Grace asked.

Trudy nodded.

"I'd like you to meet a few people," she said as they arrived at the steps where the three people were sitting closely together. "Trudy Chacon, this is Amelia Shaw and her daughter Ava. And that's Warren Watson."

"Is there a reason why they're not wearing masks?" Trudy asked softly.

Grace smiled. "It's because they don't need them," she said, and Trudy's mouth must have fallen open several inches, because she laughed and touched Trudy's arm. "It's a long story. I'll tell you what I can. Come on. Amelia," she called, and the young woman looked up with a smile. "This is Trudy Chacon. She's going to be our pilot for the duration of our trip."

Amelia rose to meet Trudy, taking her hand firmly. "It's nice to meet you, Trudy. Grace has told me some good things about you."

Trudy laughed nervously. "Well, I hope they were good," she exclaimed softly as the little girl rose to face her.

She was over a meter tall, with twinkling green eyes and a wide smile that revealed slightly pointed canines on the top and bottom rows of her teeth. "Mama," she said softly, and Amelia stepped back to touch her shoulder as she stood there in shorts, a tank top and rubber soled shoes that revealed blue stripes up the sides of her body.

"Oh, Ava," Amelia laughed. "Sweetie, this is Trudy. She's going to be flying us to the remote camp."

Ava extended her hand, and Trudy met her halfway, observing her long fingers and the freckles on her hand that seemed to make a pattern along with her blood vessels.

"This is Ava," Amelia said to Trudy.

"Hey, it's nice to meet you, Ava," Trudy chuckled. "Wow, you're very pretty. I like your paint."

Ava smiled, grasping onto Trudy's hand. "Oh, it's not paint," she said more clearly than any eight-year-old girl Trudy had ever met. "You're pretty too."

The young man stood up then, towering over Ava as he wrapped an arm around her and reached for Trudy's hand.

"Austin told me about you," he said. "I'm Warren."

Trudy bowed her head. "So that's where I've seen you," she commented. "I knew you looked familiar. Haven't seen you in the hangar in a while."

Warren squeezed Ava, and she laughed softly, grasping onto him with both hands. "Well, I'm hanging out with a more exclusive crowd these days. If you see Austin, tell him I said hi."

Trudy nodded. "I'll do that."

"So," Grace said. "We ready to go?"

"We've been ready forever, Aunt Grace," Ava exclaimed.

Grace moved in front of Ava, taking her face in her hands and speaking softly. "I know, Ava," she appeased. "You're always ready for anything. We'll all be back in a just a little bit, okay?"

Ava blushed and nodded, and Grace looked at Warren purposefully before she looked at Amelia.

"You know what to do," she said, and Amelia nodded.

Grace turned her attention to Trudy, speaking softly again. "I cleared it with your P.I. so you can land inside the fence back here. With Ava being so visible, we can't really walk her through the base. I'll try to explain when we're away from the base, okay?"

Trudy nodded. "Okay. See you in a few."

Grace and Warren both stepped off into the science module to get to the link room while Trudy made her way through the base to the hangar where her Samson was getting some refits done. She was sure they would be done by the time she got there, but while she walked, she found herself thinking about what she'd just seen.

She didn't want to speculate, but Trudy was pretty sure this hadn't been authorized by Selfridge or Quaritch, and she was curious how Grace had gotten authorization to use three people like that in an experiment that was clearly bigger than anything else going on at the base. Breathing outside was a big deal around here, and Trudy knew that was why a lot of the guys on the avatar team used their avatars. If Grace had been able to get these three to breathe outside, then why wasn't everyone on base doing it too? She had no frame of reference to compare this to. And that little girl. What was she? Trudy was so curious.

But she'd promised Grace to keep an open mind. So when she got back to the hangar to get her Samson ready for the flight line, she didn't say anything to Wainfleet as he finished situating her new door gun props, not even when he asked her the stupidest question anyone had ever asked her.

"So what was the urgent science mission about huh?" he quipped.

Trudy smiled, finishing her checklist and tossing her exopack into the cockpit. "It was a, uh, urgent science mission," she commented. "Ya done?"

He nodded, securing the last prop into place. "Yep."

"Good. I gotta a date, so move it."

She could tell he took offense to that, but she didn't have time to argue as she called up to the control carrier. "This is Samson 1-6, requesting permission to exit the staging hangar for placement on flight line 1-2."

A few seconds passed before a distinctively female voice responded. "Samson 1-6, you are cleared for flight line 1-2. Permission to exit staging hangar granted for landing on the south lawn at 0900 hours, out bound."

"Copy that, tower."

With that, Trudy climbed into the cockpit, securing the hatch and immediately feeling the carrier lift her bird off the floor of the hangar. Within five minutes, she was outside and ready to fly, initializing her engines and switching on her turbines as she got the 'go-ahead' from the control tower to lift off the tarmac. It was a relatively clear day with just a few clouds in the sky, and it was smooth sailing from the airfield to the south lawn where the Avatar Compound was currently filled with giant blue people.

Half the people down there were Human and wearing exopacks, and they all moved out of Trudy's way when she began her descent. She spotted a small group of people moving closer to her, two avatars and two smaller figures that turned out to be Amelia and Ava. The moment Trudy set down on the grass, Grace's avatar used her choker to talk to Trudy.

"We're gonna strap in and then get out of our links," she told Trudy. "Amelia's going to help Ava. We'll be right back," she said with a bright smile.

Trudy nodded with a smile through her own exopack as Amelia opened the side door on Trudy's left and helped Ava inside. They were both wearing exopacks, but it didn't look like their tubes were connected to the units. The little girl smiled when she saw Trudy, and it was clear she'd just made a new friend. Amelia strapped the little girl in, moving to one of the back seats less than ten minutes before three people in exopacks came running toward the Samson as it turbines still beat loudly.

Grace and Warren climbed into the rear cockpit while the third woman carried a duffel bag. She waved at Trudy and helped Warren secure the duffel before she backed away from the Samson and then got down out of the way. Grace and Warren climbed into the front cockpit, strapping in as Trudy closed the doors and repressurized the cabin slowly. Once they were all back up to a good mixture of air, she pulled off her mask and looked at Grace.

"We good?" she prompted.

"As we'll ever be."

Trudy smiled and nodded, easing her controls up to lift off the grass and leave the south lawn. She nodded to the guards in the tower, moving off to the north away from the base with her precious cargo strapped in for their flight into the mountains to the remote camp.

As soon as they were away from base and talking on a closed channel inside the cockpit, Grace suddenly spoke as she sat next to Trudy.

"About five years ago," she began, "Amelia arrived on base in her sister's place as part of an experiment cleared back on Earth."

"What kind of experiment?" Trudy asked, glancing at Warren as he now held Ava in his lap inside his harness.

"You've seen Ava, Trudy," Grace said with a smile. "You've seen the avatars, and you know how they're made. Take the next logical step."

Even while she grasped onto the controls on her Samson, Trudy glanced into the back again to look at Ava. Then she looked at Grace. "I didn't think that was possible," she exclaimed softly.

"It's not supposed to be, but Amelia defied all the odds,"she said proudly, glancing back at Amelia. "But that's why we're leaving base for a little while. It's getting harder to keep Ava hidden from the guards, and until she's big enough to blend in, we have to be careful with her."

"Isn't that against the Human/Alien Rights Act?" Trudy asked softly, still flying and talking at the same time.

"Probably," Grace said with a shrug. "But that's also why we have to keep her protected until she can protect herself. And besides, being on base for someone like her right now, well, it's — "

"Dangerous," Warren added softly. Grace just looked at him, not agreeing or disagreeing.

Trudy glanced at him, seeing how he was holding Ava, and even if Grace didn't want to admit it, it looked like he already knew it was true.

Even though the trip up into the mountains took a little while with Trudy taking the scenic route, it was clear Ava was more enthralled than she ever had been in her young life. Trudy watched from the helm with a bit of wonder across her face, and she could see the little girl had never been here before. Based on what Grace said, it was very possible she'd never been anywhere before now. Trudy herself had only been through here about a dozen times, but as many times as she'd seen the surface of Pandora, Trudy still tried to stay objective. She was here to do a job, nothing more.

The remote camp, most commonly known as Site 26, was only one of several places in the forest the science teams used to do research. But this site was unique in its positioning, since most of the electronic equipment on their aircraft wouldn't work in the intense magnetic fields surrounding the camp. But Trudy had been flying through here enough to be able to fly with her eyes, and since the manual controls still worked, she'd actually gotten relatively proficient in her flying around here. It was nice to be able to keep her skills sharp, and it was nice to get away from the base for a little while.

Warren took charge of Ava as Grace and Trudy replaced their exopacks, and they all climbed out of the Samson to make their way across the grass to the front airlock.

"Okay," Grace said as she moved through the two modules turning on lights and initializing the generator. "We can go for a long time here without needing to resupply, so let's watch our energy usage until the calibrators start screaming at us. Warren, you'll be in unit one, even though I know you won't be using it that often. Trudy, you'll take the bunk under mine. Amy, sweetie, you'll go under Warren, so you and Ava can share."

"Nothing new there," Warren commented with a crooked grin, and Amelia blushed as she settled Ava on the lower bunk.

"Quit being such a guy," Amelia chastised.

"But I _am_ a guy," he pressed, pulling her into his arms and kissing her.

"Okay, you two love birds," Grace warned. "None of that while we're up out here, all right? Now let's get our avatars unstrapped from the ship."

Warren hesitantly let go of Amelia, following Grace back into the link module.

The first order of business was setting up a schedule for the showers so the lone male of their group wouldn't end up with a cold shower at night. After that, Grace made it clear that while they couldn't stay there forever, it would be a good six months before they would need more supplies, so they all settled in and got down to business. Grace had experiments she started that day while Amelia set up make-shift barriers around the modules so Ava couldn't get underneath them. Warren made himself busy inventorying the inside of the module, and Trudy helped him, asking him about what he was doing there.

"I've heard of your father," she said as they documented supplies from the link module. "I'm kinda surprised to see you out here. Why aren't you working for security?"

Warren kind of laughed. "Ask me whether I like the Colonel, and you'll get your answer," he commented, opening a box of emergency re-breather filters and then closing them. "And plus, I didn't want to work for security. I wanted to do this," he gestured to the link pod behind them. "And I wanted to do my thing. I'm not here to continue my father's reign of terror on the known universe."

"But you hang out in the hangar all the time," Trudy noted. "I know I've seen you in there a lot, and not just with Austin. Do any of those guys know you're doing this? Working with the Avatar Program?"

He shrugged, unlatching a case of extra experiment containers and looking inside. "Some of them do, but I haven't really been that way in a little while. I've been trying to focus on Ava and Amy. They're like my family now, and I don't need anything else," he explained closing the case.

"What's the deal with the three of you being able to breathe outside?" she asked softly. "I didn't think that was possible."

"It's not supposed to be," he revealed, opening a new box from the Samson and pulling out one of the smaller boxes inside. "The air outside is supposed to be toxic to humans, but because of what Amy was here to do, they sent special injections for her to take so she would be able to conceive. It was a liquid mixture of the air outside, along with a few other ins and outs that would allow it to bond with her blood and make her body adapt to the atmosphere. After ten months, Amy could go wherever she wanted without an exopack. And Ava was born in Pandoran air, but she can breathe oxygen for the most part."

He paused, opening the small box and showing the small vile of clear fluid to Trudy. "I didn't know about her until she was a good eight months into her pregnancy when Grace's school was shut down. After that, she decided Amy wasn't safe anymore, so she was forced to expose Amy to the rest of us. Avatars. And that was when it started for me."

Trudy smiled as he handed the vile to her. It looked like plain water, but she guessed that was the point. "I can tell you care about Ava," she commented. "And it's obvious you love them. But isn't it dangerous for you to do that to yourself?"

"Being in this place is dangerous," he said softly. "And I came here because it was dangerous. When I met Amy, all I was thinking about was keeping her safe so she could have her baby. That was all Grace ever told me. It took time for me to learn about the experiment completely, and over the last two months of her pregnancy, I – I fell in love with her. But I knew she didn't really feel that way for me. Because of him."

Trudy shook her head, and Warren bowed his head. "It was this guy back on Earth that Grace told about the experiment. Amy was in contact with him until a week before she gave birth when he was killed, and then I couldn't tell her how I felt. But everyone who knew us knew what I was feeling."

He paused again, taking the vile and replacing it in the box. "It's not pleasant," he said of the injection. "It kind of feels like getting your skin flayed off, and then steam-pressed back on in a split-second. But, uh, you get used to it. After the first few hundred anyway."

"How long have you been doing this?" Trudy exclaimed.

"Ava's four now," he said softly. "She was about a month old before Grace was able to make a new compound for me. I didn't tell Amy until Ava was about a year old. That way, she couldn't stop me even if she wanted to. But lucky for me, she wanted me to be with her more than she wanted to be alone."

"So you're still taking injections?"

"Only when I have a relapse," he shrugged. "I haven't had one in six months, but we keep a fresh box with us just in case."

"Do Amy or Ava ever relapse?" Trudy asked as the airlock opened and allowed Amelia back into the module.

"Not usually," he said rising and moving through the module to meet Amelia in the middle. They didn't come into the link module, and Trudy guessed they wanted to be alone.

She didn't say anything to either of them, stepping into the airlock and pulling on her exopack before she depressurizing the airlock and then stepping outside where Grace and Ava were sitting a few yards from the modules. She figured she was probably going to be giving Warren and Amelia the habitat side of the module often.

* * *

For a good four months, the quintet existed silently in the mountains away from base. Grace ran her experiments outside, taking samples and looking at them inside while Warren and Amelia showed Ava the plants and trees around their little home away from home. Grace compiled a few pads so Ava could read about the mountains and their distinctive properties, and she even started teaching Ava Na'vi even though it wasn't much or that often. Ava adapted so fast it was astonishing, but as long as she wanted to learn, Grace wanted to teach her.

Trudy had to go back to base after a month and a half to get her Samson worked on, but she was back after a few days with more supplies and some clothes for Ava since she'd grown a little even in that short time. She also told Warren that Quaritch had been looking for him. Apparently, the Colonel had been watching him for the last several years, but Warren didn't care.

Grace didn't seem to be worried about the Colonel's interest in Warren, and it looked like they'd been dodging the whole thing for a while now. But Trudy didn't want it to look like she felt that way too. And she didn't want to get reprimanded for not following orders. So when the Quaritch asked her about Warren's activities, she didn't lie. He spent most of his time in his link, and that's what she told the Colonel. He wasn't very happy about her vagueness.

While Warren did spend a lot of time in his link, he was only in it for maybe eight hours a day, helping Grace outside in the plants and trees and carrying her experiments from the foliage to a section of the grounds they'd set aside for the experiments. Trudy watched him read to Ava every night, and she watched him and Amelia disappear into the shower every night while Grace wasn't watching. They watched the sun come up every morning while Ava was asleep, and they ate breakfast together while Grace sat hunched over her microscope.

After four months, Trudy couldn't think of anything that was more normal than watching Warren and Ava garden outside while she drank her morning coffee with Grace. She couldn't think of anything that made more sense than Ava's freckles and her tail whipping happily as she played outside with Warren and her mother. Even if it was a secret, to Trudy, it was the simplest thing she'd ever known. And when Quaritch asked her to bring Warren back to the base on her next equipment run, she conveniently forgot to do it, halfway to the base before she was contacted and asked if she was carrying passengers.

"That's a negative, tower," she reported. "Comin' in for a quick refit only."

"Copy, Samson 1-6."

Quaritch was waiting with three big guys in exopacks with rifles strapped to their shoulders when Trudy made to the tarmac. She tried not to notice the annoyed expression on his face, landing the way she always did and securing her mask over her face before she shut down her engines and pushed open the door to her right.

"Pilot, I thought I gave you a very specific order," Quaritch bellowed.

"Are you kidding?" she exclaimed. "I couldn't get out of there fast enough. The mechanic is gonna bitch at me for taking so long to come back in."

"Well, then you're gonna have some company on your return flight, Major," he barked, nodding to the three goons with him to back off. "And then _I_ will bring Mr. Watson in myself. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," she nodded.

For the twenty-four hours Trudy was one base waiting for the refits on her Samson, Quaritch kept her in his sight the entire time, which she didn't even think was possible since she had to eat, bathe and sleep for half that time. But she couldn't get away for a single minute to call Grace or Warren to tell them the Colonel was coming back with her with a few of his buddies. She had to figure out something to give them a heads-up of the current predicament she found herself in at the moment.

She was cleared for the flight line just after 0900 hours, with Quaritch, Wainfleet and a couple of other guys in tow. Remote camp was probably an hour away, and Trudy had to think of something inconspicuous to let Grace know she wasn't alone. She was almost there when she thought of her talk-box, and she switched it on, speaking to Quaritch as randomly as she could.

"So, Colonel," she began. "Why exactly do you need with Mr. Watson anyway?"

He looked at her for a long minute, not saying anything and glancing back into the hull as the two lugs with him held their guns at ready aim in case they saw something they didn't like. "If I needed you to know that, I'd tell you, Major. All you really need to know is that I requested his presence on base and you did not bring him to me. You're very lucky we do not employ a traditional military rule on base, or you would be grounded for the next several months, is that clear?"

Trudy tried not to smile, unaffected by his threat and unafraid of his tone even as he stared her down coldly. "Yes, sir, Colonel, sir."

A minute later, she spotted the remote camp modules, and she hoped she'd tipped them off enough to get themselves situated.

* * *

Grace was sitting in front of her microscope when the comm unit in the corner of the habitat crackled to life with Trudy's voice.

"_So, Colonel, what exactly do you need with Mr. Watson?"_

Grace sat up, looking back at Amelia as she sat off to the side categorizing the samples they'd just brought in. Trudy had been gone for a day, and the last thing they'd expected was her coming back with a passenger.

Suddenly, Quaritch's voice came through loud and clear. _"If I needed you to know that, I'd tell you, Major. All you really need to know is that I requested his presence on base and you did not bring him to me. You're very lucky we do not employ a traditional military rule on base, or you would be grounded for the next several months, is that clear?"_

"Where's Ava?" Amelia asked, rising from her chair.

"She's outside with Warren," Grace replied as the rotors on Trudy's Samson flooded the air outside.

Amelia didn't wait, hurrying to the windows that faced the cliff outside in the link module. She spotted Warren and Ava sitting in the garden, and she tried to get their attention, pounding on the glass as hard as she could. She didn't want to wake Warren from his link since she knew that would scare Ava, but she couldn't let anyone else see Ava. She knew what would happen if anyone found out about her.

It took almost a minute for Amelia to make Warren look at her, and she pointed toward where the sounds were coming from. She knew he usually didn't pay much attention to Trudy's Samson when she was coming in, but this wasn't like any other time, and she didn't know how to make him see that. Warren stood up from the ground, moving toward the window even though he kept pointing to his ears, and she knew he couldn't hear her.

She looked around for anything to write on, putting Quaritch's name on it and flattening it against the glass so he could see, and the realization in his eyes came only a few seconds before the Samson appeared above the cliff. He immediately grabbed Ava and ran for cover. Amelia hurried away from the link module to the habitat, hoping to see him outside, but she didn't spot him immediately, instead hearing Trudy landing outside and hoping she'd told him before any of the security officers outside caught a glimpse of Ava.

* * *

Warren held Ava close to him as he hurried around the side of the habitat, listening to the people on the Samson jump off onto the ground and make their way toward the module. He knew they would surround the module before going inside through the two airlocks situated on both sides, and he also knew that if any of them saw Ava, they would know what she was. It was too obvious now to keep her safe.

"What's going on?" she asked over the noise of the rotors on Trudy's Samson.

He motioned for her to be quiet as he looked around for a place to hide, and when he spotted the barriers around the modules, he removed one of the sections, urging Ava inside before he followed her.

"But I'm not supposed to be under here," she whispered urgently.

"It's okay," he promised. "But we can't let them see you. Just be quiet, okay?"

Less than a second after he put the barrier back in place, two sets of legs came around the side of the module quickly, moving toward the airlock and stepping inside. Warren waited until they were inside to look at Ava.

"Ava, I have to go inside," he whispered to her. "But I need you to stay here until someone comes to get you. Your mom or Aunt Grace. No one else. Okay?"

"What about you?" she whispered, grasping onto his massive shoulders. "What about the you in there?"

Warren sighed, leaning forward and kissing her cheek. "I'll be okay. But I have to go, okay? Just remember what I said. And when Trudy's gone, Grace can come out here and get me. Okay?"

She stared at him for another few seconds, understanding slowly and nodding as he set her on the ground and then laid down over the ground beneath the module. He relaxed as quickly as he could, inhaling and closing his eyes as Ava grasped onto his hands. Her breathing slowly faded, replaced by the soft whir of his link, and he opened his eyes slowly, still enclosed in the soundproof pod he spent most of his days in.

But then he heard shouting, and he knew he couldn't stay there. Quaritch's voice reached his ears just as he lifted the lid on his link.

"Now I don't care what you say about some damn experiment you're running you need him to help you with," he grumbled. "I want him packed and on that chopper out there before I drag him out there myself without his exopack!"

The bright light from outside blinded Warren for a few seconds as his eyes adjusted, and he removed the plate over his chest, sitting up slowly as Trudy stepped inside the link module.

"Hey," she said. "We gotta move."

She lifted her eyebrows, silently asking about Ava, and Warren nodded, getting his bearings back before he stood up from the link slowly. With a long stretch, Warren followed Trudy into the habitat where Grace was shielding her side of the habitat from the Colonel which presently included Amelia as she sat in front of Grace's microscope. The instant they saw him, they both turned their attention to him.

"Son," Quaritch growled. "When I request your presence, I expect you to fulfill my request without hesitation. Is that clear?"

Warren scoffed. "I'm not a security officer, Colonel," he replied sarcastically. "I don't have to follow your orders."

"You do if you want to stay alive," the Colonel warned, taking a step toward Warren as Grace stepped in between them.

"That's enough," she shouted. "Warren, don't antagonize him. You'll just make it worse, and I need you out here right now. But whatever this rabid dog needs you to do, you might as well do it now so he'll leave us alone until we're ready to come back on our own."

Warren glanced at Amelia, careful not to draw the Colonel's attention to her before he looked at Trudy. "I'll pack for a few days," he told her. "If he's not done with me by then, I'll just have to break out."

Trudy didn't look at Quaritch, nodding and then moving around him to wait in the habitat while he packed.

Grace took point, stepping in front of Quaritch and making him pay attention to her while Trudy paced and allowed Amelia to step into the link module. Warren was already stuffing clothes into his bag, and when she moved to his side, he looked at her.

"Where's Ava?" she whispered urgently.

"Still outside," he said, glancing up to make sure they were alone. "I got her under the habitat before they saw her. I'm sure of it. Does he know – I mean, does he know about you?"

She shook her head. "No. I don't even think he's noticed me. But you can't stay gone for a few days. He might not let you come back, and if he does, he's going to start watching you again. We can't risk that."

Warren huffed softly, still packing his bag. "If I don't go, it could make this a lot worse. And I can't let them know why I'm still here. Not the real reason. Not until Ava can take care of herself. I have to go," he whispered, leaning closer to kiss her. "I'll be back," he promised, rising from the floor and moving back into the habitat where Grace was still holding Quaritch back.

"You think because you're some military asshole that you can parade around here whenever you want to," she griped. "But let me tell you this. One day, this place is going to rebel against you and everyone like you. And there won't be anything left but us. Because we actually respect this place and its power."

The Colonel smirked, looking at Warren and Trudy and nodding to the airlock before he pulled the hatch open and stepped inside with his three goons. Trudy looked at Grace meaningfully, glancing at Amelia and then looking at Warren before she led the way out.

Warren kept his eyes down, spotting Ava as she crouched under the habitat with his avatar and gesturing for her to be quiet. After that, he followed Trudy, wearing an exopack to keep up appearances even though it made him a little light-headed at first. Once they were in the Samson, he strapped in and settled back for the flight back to base.

* * *

Amelia barely waited ten minutes before she left the habitat to get Ava, refusing the listen to Grace as she begged her to wait long enough for it to be safe. Amelia knew her daughter would be scared, even if she was close to Warren's avatar, and if he was going to be gone a few days, she would have to keep Ava busy so she wouldn't notice. She was already afraid that would be impossible.

"Ava," she yelled less than a second after getting out of the airlock. "Ava, where are you?"

"Mama!" she cried.

Amelia followed the sound of her daughter's voice, moving toward the barrier's surrounding the underside of the habitat, and she removed the first one she got to, kneeling to the ground and seeing Ava clutching Warren's avatar.

"Ava, sweetie, come on," she pleaded. "It's okay."

"But Uncle Warren!" she exclaimed.

"Ava, honey, that's not Uncle Warren," she insisted, exhaling softly. "I mean, it is, but he's not there right now. So you need to come with me inside where it's safe. Okay?"

"Where's Aunt Grace?" Ava demanded, still holding the avatar in her arms.

"She's inside the habitat, baby. Now come on. I promise it's okay."

"I want Aunt Grace," Ava shouted.

Amelia inhaled deeply, remaining on the ground for another minute before she rose and hurried to the airlock to get Grace.

"Grace!" she cried. "Help me! I can't get Ava out from under the habitat. Warren's avatar is under there with her. She won't leave him."

Grace was on her feet in a second, moving to the link module quickly. "Give me five minutes," she pleaded.

Amelia hurried back outside where she'd left Ava. Her daughter was still holding Warren's avatar, and Amelia could see tears flowing down her cheeks. Whether he'd meant to or not, Warren had scared Ava by leaving her down here. Amelia was going to have to talk to him about that, or maybe she just told herself that so she wouldn't get scared. She'd never seen her daughter like this, and it was taking every ounce of strength she had to not lose it without Warren there to keep her calm.

Grace's avatar came running around the side of the habitat after about ten minutes, and she knelt at Amelia's side to look under the habitat at Ava.

"Ava, honey," Grace said. "It's okay. Come out here so we can get Warren's avatar to a safe place."

When Ava still didn't move, Grace reached out for Amelia's shoulder, silently telling her it was okay before she began her crawl under the habitat to where Ava was sitting.

Amelia watched silently, keeping an eye out for anything even if she knew she wouldn't be able to do anything about a wild animal if it came out of the forest or even a strange person who came to the remote camp while they were there alone.

"Ava, sweetie," Grace said softly. "It's okay. Come on. I'll get Uncle Warren's avatar."

It took a little coaxing, but Ava released the avatar, and Grace grasped onto his arms to pull him out from under the habitat. It wasn't easy, given Grace's size and the fact that the avatar weighed about as much as she did, if not more. But Ava moved along with her, keeping a hand on him and emerging with them as Amelia hurried forward and took her daughter in her arms.

"Baby," she exclaimed. "It's okay. I promise. Uncle Warren's coming back."

"When?" her daughter cried.

"Soon. Now come on. Let's get inside."

Ava didn't argue, latching onto her mother and allowing her to pull her into the habitat while Grace put Warren's avatar in a safe place for when he returned.

* * *

Hell's Gate looked exactly the way Warren had left it four months earlier, and as Trudy set her Samson on the tarmac of the base, he could see how the name resonated. This was definitely Hell. And the fact that he was here without Amelia made it feel even more like somewhere he never wanted to be ever again. Only his desire to get back to the remote camp kept him from expressing his displeasure with being here alone. And it didn't matter what the Colonel wanted. Nothing was keeping him from Amelia or Ava for more than a few days, if that long at all.

Trudy didn't talk the entire time they were in the air, glancing at Warren every few minutes as he sat next to her and glancing at Quaritch as he watched the two of them carefully. There wasn't really anything to say, so the noise inside the Samson consisted only of the rotors as they carried them through the sky toward base.

Quaritch and his two lugs stepped off the Samson without any hesitation, but Warren was slow in his trek from the cockpit. He was pretty sure the Colonel was going to talk to him about being away from the base for so long, but if he'd waited four months, Warren was sure he could wait a little longer. And Trudy stayed with her aircraft, watching Warren walk inside the base with Quaritch while the two goons made themselves scarce across the tarmac.

This felt slightly different than it had four years ago when Quaritch and Selfridge had come into the mess hall to talk to him about his father. At that point, they'd been seeking and fishing, and Warren hadn't felt at all threatened. He hadn't really cared what they wanted, and he didn't really care now. But he knew Quaritch wanted something now, and he knew it wasn't going to be as easy to dodge him this time as it had been before. Not without Grace around.

Warren followed Quaritch through the base to the hangar where other Samsons, Scorpions and AMP suits were being worked on. It had been more than four months since he'd been around here, when he'd been volunteered to help a few of the crews do random refits on some of the older aircraft, but Warren had known exactly what was going on. He knew Quaritch was still watching him, trying to catch him doing something he wasn't really supposed to be doing. But after the first time, he and Grace had gotten even more careful about how much time he was allotted in his link. And now he was back down to eight hours like everyone else. Of course, neither Quaritch nor Selfridge really knew why. But he didn't really care.

"Step in," Quaritch said, guiding Warren into the weight room he liked to call his office. Warren looked around, seeing a bench weight in the center of the room and a set of desks on the other side of the room. "Sit down," the Colonel pointed to an empty chair while he sat over the bench to begin pumping away at the weights already attached.

Warren sat down unceremoniously, staring at the Colonel unimpressed by his muscles and green camouflage pants.

"I've been watching you, son," the Colonel said, pressing what looked like about 100 lbs in three and four quick successions. "And I've been noticin' you spendin' a lot of time out in the compound with those blue puppets out back."

"Should I be flattered?" Warren asked sarcastically.

For half a minute, Quaritch said nothing, pumping his weights. Then he stopped, sitting up to face Warren. "You should listen to me, Mr. Watson," he said, grinning slightly. "I know what you're here to do. I know you've been here four years too long working with those science pukes, and I think it looks like you're losin' sight of what we're really here to do."

Warren remained unaffected, still unafraid of the Colonel's tone. "I know what we're here to do," he told Quaritch. "And when we're done digging it up, we'll move on to the next place that has something we want. That doesn't mean I have to agree with it."

"You're kinda cocky, son," the Colonel commented, still grinning. "You should show me some respect. I expected more from a general's son."

Warren could barely contain his anger, speaking more abrasively than he had the last time they'd come face-to-face. "I only show respect to those who've earned it," he said bluntly. "Call it a side effect of being a general's son. And all you've done since I got here is demand something you haven't earned or done anything to deserve. And my father is a bully. It's no wonder you would get along with him so well."

"You're not understanding me, Mr. Watson," Quaritch said, glancing around like he was looking for someone even though no one bothered them. "Your attitude is showing me that you need to be reminded of why we're here, and quite frankly, it couldn't have come at a better time."

"And exactly what time is that?"

"You've been gone a few months, so I'll bring you up to speed," he said rising from the bench and beckoning Warren to follow him out of the room and back into the hangar. "We've been scouting for new mining sites, and we've been comin' up short. Until about a month ago when we found the biggest deposit within 200 clicks of this base. It's gonna get us our biggest payload yet. Only problem is the indigenous sitting on top of it."

"Why are you telling me?" Warren asked.

Quaritch glanced at Warren. "I need to know how to get those locals away from that site," he told Warren. "Now I don't really care how I do that, but I've been told to try a diplomatic approach before I use force. Quite honestly, I think getting' these savages to cooperate is a big waste of my time, but I've been reminded by the guys upstairs and back home that if I can do this without any bloodshed that it's what I'm gonna do. And you are exactly the kinda guy I need to get the job done."

"And I'm supposed to want to help you?" Warren deduced.

Quaritch stopped as he stood less than a meter from Warren, turning to face him. "This isn't about helping me, son," he told Warren. "This is about doing what's right for this facility and the people in it. If we don't get that site, we might not find one for another tour, and I promise you by then, you'll be gone."

"And with me, any chance you would have of taking what you want before you're gone," Warren taunted. "You think I don't know what we're doing here? You think I don't understand that we're the aliens here, and this is their home? You don't understand anything. You're the reason I go to sleep every night wishing I was one of them. You're the reason I hate what I am, and now you have the balls to drag me back here and ask me to trick these people into leaving the only home they've ever had?"

"Is that a 'no'?"

Warren scoffed softly. "You really are unbelievable. You don't even see what you're doing to this place," he accused.

"Son, I really don't care," Quaritch said simply. "It's not my job to care about this rock we're standin' on. It's my job to keep this facility secure. It's my job to keep all these men alive during their stay here. That's what they pay me to do, and right now, I need that site secure. So I'll make it real simple for you. You can do this for me, and I'll let you go on doing whatever shit you were doing with the Doc. I won't bother you ever again. But don't do it, and I can promise your ass will be on the next shuttle outta here. I'll even keep you in the detention center while we wait."

"You can't do that," Warren argued. "The shuttle's still more than a year and a half out. Exactly what purpose would it serve to keep me in lockdown for that long?"

Quaritch smiled, the scars on his face glistening in the flourescent lights of the hangar. "Well, it just might give you time to think about how important you really are around here, especially when no one comes to see you and no one misses you while you're there."

Warren couldn't help but think about Amelia and Ava and the fact that they were probably already worried about him. He hadn't been away from either of them in four years, and the last few hours were already making his brain work to figure out what he was going to do to get out of here before more than a few days went by. But he couldn't give in now, not when he'd already made it clear that he wasn't there to be a tool for the Colonel or Selfridge to use whenever they saw fit. He wasn't some military asshole, and he didn't have to take their orders sitting down. They didn't really even have the authority to give anyone orders, but most of the security guys did what they were told because they were all former military officers themselves. Warren wasn't like them. He couldn't behave like them.

Even though Warren was sure he didn't want to leave Amelia or Ava for any reason, he was also very certain that if he did this, Amelia wouldn't understand. He knew how much she loved this place and the People who called it home. She'd actually spent time with them and knew how important this place was to them. If he did anything to hurt them, she would probably never forgive him. And she was much more important to him than any stupid "mission" the Colonel had in mind for him.

"Threaten me all you want, Colonel," Warren hedged. "It won't change how I feel or what I say. And it certainly won't change my mind. You're not the one who gives me orders, and I don't have to do anything you ask me to do. Why don't you ask one of your military dicks, since they don't seem to have a problem killing the very land they walk on? Because I don't care if you throw me in a detention cell for the rest of my life. I'm not forcing the people who were here before us to leave the only home they have just so we can dig up the ground for some gray rock we're still digging up at the mine less than a hundred meters from the base."

Warren's boldness was enough to wipe the smirk off Quaritch's face, but the Colonel recovered quickly, nodding toward one of the guys posted at the entrance of the hangar. "That's okay, son," he said. "I tell you what. We'll let you simmer for a few days; see what you think then."

The guy who arrived at the Colonel's side waited only for his nod to move behind Warren and pull his wrists into a set of cuffs. Warren grimaced silently, lifting his eyes to Quaritch but saying nothing as he was taken out of the hangar toward the detention center.

* * *

The minute that Parker Selfridge learned that General William Watson's son was in the detention center, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been more outraged, and when he had to tell General Watson, the man was less than pleased. And he demanded his son be released immediately. The only problem was that by then, Warren Watson had already been in detention for over two days. Parker didn't know who to blame, but he took most of the older man's heat, promising to do everything in his power, which happened to be fairly extensive, to get the General's son out of detention that day. It wasn't that hard to find out who was responsible. Especially when Quaritch met him at the entrance to the boy's detention cell.

"Are you out of your goddamn mind?" Parker exclaimed.

"You told me you needed that site," the Colonel pressed. "He was the best guy we could find."

"So you put him in detention?" Parker demanded. "For what purpose? Wouldn't we need him to interact with those damned blue monkeys?"

"After he refused to do it, I thought I'd let him simmer for a little while. I thought it might get his interests aligned with ours for a change."

Parker glanced into the cell where Warren was currently lounging patiently on one of the beds. He looked like he hadn't had a bath in two days, but he didn't look any more willing to infiltrate a native camp either. Clearly, the Colonel's tactic hadn't worked, and even though Parker _did_ want that site, he didn't know how to make this guy do it. So he didn't really have a choice, glancing back at the guard at the controls and motioning for him to open the door.

"Get him out of there," he ordered.

The guard hesitated, looking at the Colonel as Parker turned to him and elevated his voice.

"Open the damn doors, Mr. Fields. Now," he demanded.

The guard still looked at Quaritch, and when the Colonel nodded, he hit a sequence of keys in front of him that allowed the doors to slide open. Warren didn't move at first, seeming perfectly content to sit where he was for a lot longer than he already had.

"Mr. Watson," Parker called, prompting the young man's defiant blue eyes to turn on him. "Come with me. I want to show you something."

For a minute, Warren still didn't move. Then he stood up, meeting Quaritch's eyes and then following Selfridge out of the detention center slowly.

The Ops Center was bustling at noon as Selfridge guided Warren and Quaritch into the middle of the room where a 3-D hologram of the base was situated. They'd been monitoring the closest deposit of ore from here in the last month, and so far, they still didn't know how to go about getting to it. It was almost a hundred kilometers away, and going that far away was dangerous, especially after the debacle that had been Grace's school which was nearby.

"Jerry," he called to the man controlling the hologram images. "Bring the mine up for me, huh?"

In seconds, the deep mine a hundred meters from the base eased over the hologram, and Selfridge leaned in close. "I'm sure you know what this is, Mr. Watson," he said.

"I know what it is," Warren said blankly, staring at the image unaffected.

"Yeah, well, we've been digging here for a long time," Selfridge told him. "And it's provided us with a lot of ore to send home. But let's be plain here. It's not going to provide much longer."

Warren glanced at Quaritch. "I've already been told about the new deposit you found," he revealed. "So what?"

"So our output is starting to decrease a little every time we send our reports back home. And we need to find a new site. This is what we're here for, Mr. Watson. We're not here to be friends with those savages out there. And it's my job to keep this site functioning. Those monkeys out there are threatening us every time we go out, and we can only take so much. This is why we need to find a new way of getting them off that site. I mean, we've done everything we can think of to play nice with them, and nothing seems to have worked so far. Honestly, I'm running out of ideas here."

Warren leaned over the hologram, staring at the image and not speaking for a minute as the sensors updated the image. "And you think they want us to teach them anything?" he asked, lifting his eyes angrily.

"Well, I mean, we've given them everything any other local population would have been given at this point. Um, medicine far beyond their own. Education," Selfridge exclaimed even as Warren's posture straightened and his face hardened. "We've given them roads, but apparently, they like mud to run on. And that wouldn't really bother me except for the fact that there isn't anything else for us to give."

"And you think they want us to give them anything?" Warren asked, glaring in a way that made Selfridge retreat slightly.

The last time he'd seen that look in anyone's eyes, which had coincidently been Warren's, it had only ended in a knock-down, drag-out fight with Grace. Selfridge didn't want to lose face in front of Quaritch, but he could see he was losing the upper hand here.

Silently, he moved around to Warren's side. "Listen," he said quietly. "I don't want anyone to get hurt. I really don't. I'm not out here to kill people or cause trouble. And killing the locals makes me look bad, because of all that Human/Alien Rights Act bullshit. But there's something else that's worse than bad press, and that's a bad quarterly statement. And like I said, our outputs are starting to decrease. And I'd like to get a jump on this _before_ the guys back home start screaming at me about our work here. I know you understand how important this ore is for us. You don't want any of this to get shut down, do you?"

Warren seemed to take all this in before he spoke, and he said something Selfridge wasn't expecting. "Do I have to do this?" he asked softly, staring at the hologram with shame in his eyes.

"Excuse me?" Selfridge asked, leaning closer.

Warren looked at him. "Do I _have_ to do this?" he asked again.

Selfridge looked at Quaritch, seeing a cocky grin on his face and a gleam in his eye. He thought silently about how crazy this was getting, and he wasn't about to force anyone on this base to do something they clearly didn't want to do. He knew that would only end up causing more harm than good.

"No," he said simply, looking at Warren again. "But I was hoping to appeal to your sense of survival. Because that's what it's getting down to right about now. Us or them."

Warren stood up straight, folding his arms over his chest as he still stared at the hologram. "If I don't have to do this, then there really isn't anything you can say to make me change my mind. And if it's all right with you, I'd really like to get back to remote camp. Grace needs me there, and we still have two months of experiments to finish before we're scheduled back on base."

Selfridge had never seen this kind of loyalty in a member of the science team, and he had to admit, he was impressed. And even though it was obvious Warren had other things on his mind right now, Selfridge wasn't in a position to extract any of that information. So with little else, he motioned for a guard who appeared behind Warren instantly.

"Get him back to his pilot," he told the guard. "The flight controller will clear them for departure before dusk. Go on."

Even though the guard hesitated, he took Warren's arm and pulled him out of the Ops Center without saying anything to anyone. While he was thinking about it, Selfridge turned to one of the flight controllers as she sat in front of her heads-up display.

"Clear Samson 1-6 for flight line 1-0," he called.

She nodded silently, pressing several panels in front of her.

"You know we won't get another chance like this for a very long time," Quaritch said quietly as he followed Selfridge into his office.

"Yeah, I know," Selfridge agreed. "But sending him in without his head in _our_ game would've caused more trouble than he's worth. And I will not be reporting back to the guys telling them that I allowed a distracted avatar driver into the local population where he would have the opportunity to sabotage our whole operation. Just let him go. We're doing okay for right now. You just keep everyone else here on point. And _don't_ put him in detention again. For the love of God. The last thing I need is William Watson bitching at me about his kid being locked up on this base."

While Quaritch didn't exactly agree, he bowed his head and left the office.

* * *

Trudy was waiting by her Samson when Warren found her in the staging hangar as she went over the last few refits on her aircraft, and when he got to her, he didn't say anything. No 'hey, let's go,' no 'how ya been the last two days,' none of that. He just climbed into the passenger seat and pulled on his seat belt to wait for her to finish. He knew she was probably just as ready to get back as he was, and there was no need for small talk or even long talk. There was no need for her to know why he'd been dragged back here, and there was no need to worry about the fact that it probably wouldn't be the last time. The only thing that mattered was getting back to the remote camp.

She finished her checks, getting the safety pads removed from her Samson and then climbing into the driver's seat to get going. "Tower, this is Samson 1-6 requesting permission to exit staging hangar for placement on Flight line 1-0, out bound."

She glanced at Warren as they waited, but he didn't make any stray comments. He was still thinking about what Selfridge had said. He was still thinking about what Quaritch had said. And he knew he had to tell Grace. There was no way he couldn't. Some time in the future, he wasn't sure how far off it was, the clan Grace had spent so many years of her life teaching was going to be attacked. He knew it in his gut, and he knew no one was going to be able to stop it.

"Samson 1-6, this is Tower Control. You are cleared for Flight line 1-0. Permission to exit staging hangar granted for departure, out bound."

With that, their quiet flight back to remote camp began, and when they were far enough away without anyone on base to hear her, Trudy called the remote camp on her talk-box.

"Eden's Garden, this is Samson 1-6, inbound from Hell's Gate. Half an hour out coming in with precious cargo. We're comin' home."

Trudy glanced at Warren, and he smiled for the first time in two days.

* * *

Amelia could barely keep Ava still while they waited, sitting inside the habitat with Grace while she worked on one of her samples from outside. It had been more than two days since he'd left, and Ava had practically been jumping out of her skin with questions about when Warren was going to be back. Amelia and Grace almost hadn't been able to keep up. This particular experience was proving exactly how much Ava loved him and how much she couldn't live without him. Amelia never wanted her daughter to go through this again.

The sounds of Trudy's Samson filled the air outside right on time, and Ava couldn't be stopped as she rushed to the airlock to go outside. Amelia hurried after her, halting her advance just as they got out of the module and holding her still while Trudy landed about fifty meters from the module. But that was as long as Ava could be contained as she broke free from her mother's arms and hurried toward the aircraft where Warren was stepping out of the passenger seat.

She nearly knocked him over as she slammed into him, but he held onto her, planting his feet and allowing her to wrap herself around him. Amelia waited until the rotors were almost shut down before she made her way to them, smiling at Trudy and then lifting her eyes to Warren's.

"It's okay," he whispered to Ava as her tail whipped happily from left to right. "I'm back. And I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

"You sure you want to do that?" Amelia asked as she reached his side. He extended his arm to her, pulling her to his side as he still held Ava.

"I'm sure," he whispered, leaning down to kiss her for the first time in two days. He hadn't shaved or bathed, but Amelia didn't care. There would be time for that later. "Come on. I have to talk to Grace."

"What's going on?" Amelia asked as they began their trek back into the habitat.

"I'll tell you tonight."

Amelia didn't ask anymore. The only thing she cared about was having him in her arms again. Whatever he'd found out looked important, but once Grace knew, Amelia was sure they'd figure something out. Grace always knew what to do.

* * *

**Finally at the end of this part of the memory lane thing. Guess we can squash the whole idea Max had about it being "possible" that Trudy knew, hmm? And when I wrote this part, I kept thinking, who's to say that Quaritch and Selfridge hadn't tried what they did with Jake before he showed up?**

**No definitions this time, but there will be plenty next time. Hope you liked reading it, and tell me what you think of how it all went down.**

**Again, thanks for the reviews, favorites and alerts. Until next time!  
**


	18. Friction and Fighting

**Here comes a new chapter, and it feels like a good one. I hope you all like reading it. Writing about Ava's first hunt was actually fun, and it looks like it's only going to get better. I'm actually thinking about the final parts of the story, but we'll all think about that later.**

**Anyway, I don't own Avatar. But I am going to watch the Special Edition this weekend. I'm excited. Maybe it'll jostle some brain cells around.**

**Read on!  
**

* * *

_**Friction and Fighting**_

Flying an _ikran_ in mid-afternoon was probably one of the most exhilarating things I'd ever done when I'd first come to Neytiri's village, so it only made sense that I still liked to do it whenever I could. But when it started to invade my dreams in a completely different form, I had no way of interpreting what I was thinking or seeing. I mean, how many dreams can a guy have about flying himself around the jungle? And when my dreams started back up as Ava's first hunt drew closer, I didn't know what to think about it. I didn't even know how to explain it to Mo'at, and I was pretty sure she would be able to give me some kind of insight.

Eyreal and Tu'San were the ones who decided when Ava was ready, and for nearly six months, they both trained her according to her learning rate. Even though I knew she learned much faster than I had, I realized they both wanted to give her to time to completely assimilate into the Clan. It was obvious they didn't want any members of the Clan to cause any trouble for Ava while she was training.

However, it appeared she was capable of creating trouble all on her own.

Only a few days before Tu'San would decide if Ava was ready for her first hunt, I was awakened by Thomas to be told she was fighting with one of the others training to be a hunter. And I had no idea she was fighting with one of the males until I found her engaged in a fist fight surrounded by a few dozen of the other teenagers.

I didn't recognize the boy she was fighting with, but he was almost a meter taller than she was, and he looked like he was ready to rip her in half. As I ran from the middle of the village to the clearing they were occupying, I could already see defensive wounds on her arms with blood already streaming down past her elbows. Just as I got to the crowd watching them, she lunged for his throat the same way she'd lunged at me when I'd first found her.

The boy was surprised, falling backward as she slammed her fist into his jaw, and for a minute, it looked like Ava had the upper hand. The boy shoved his fists into her gut, and she fell back onto her feet, crouched low and ready to go again as he pulled his knife from behind his back. I chose that moment to step in, however unwelcome I would be as Ava pulled her own knife from the holster strapped to her left thigh.

"_Tsa'u nіtam_," I yelled, causing half the kids there to scatter instantly. The other half immediately began shouting about who was responsible for the fight. But I didn't really care about who'd started it. I was finishing it right now.

"That's enough," I yelled in English, taking Ava's arm and the boy's to pull them away from the crowd. Neither of them fought me, and I observed both of them with equal wounds which included bloody noses and bruises from hitting each other.

"What is going on here?" I demanded, tossing both of them into an enclosed alcove and watching them step as far from each other as possible. "Ava?"

She said nothing, folding her arms over her chest. I looked at the boy, seeing a glare in his eyes as he looked at me.

"What's your name?" I asked him in English, my voice still elevated.

"Rey'sik," he replied.

"Did you start this?" I demanded as Eyreal and Tu'San appeared at the entry of the alcove.

The boy didn't reply, and I looked at Ava. "Ava, what's going on here?"

When neither of them spoke, I looked at Tu'San, prompting him forward to talk to the boy since it didn't look like he wanted to talk to me.

Softly, Tu'San spoke to him, glancing at Ava and then me before he turned back to me. "He says she does not belong here," Tu'San said in English. "He says she should go back where she came from. He says she should not have come here."

"Who threw the first punch?" I asked, trying not to bare my teeth as I spoke. "And what was said to prompt it?"

"She hit me first!" Rey'sik shouted in English. "She crazy! _Ke niayoeng!_"

I stepped in front of him again, moving Tu'San out of the way. "And what did you say to her to make her hit you?" I demanded softly even though I was more angry than I'd been in a long time.

He looked at Tu'San, probably hoping for the warrior to back him up, but Tu'San said nothing, and Rey'sik snarled.

"Her mother traitorous Sky Person!" he yelled, his English disjointed as he angrily searched for the words. "Tainting our blood! _Fayvrrtep!_"

I grabbed his arm, pulling him from Ava and shoving him toward Tu'San as Eyreal watched calmly. "Get him out of here," I ordered. "And get him cleaned up."

Tu'San didn't argue, guiding Rey'sik out into the village silently, and I looked at Ava, noticing scrapes over her cheek and forehead and a bite mark on her neck. I could barely contain my fury, stepping in front of her and taking her shoulders in my hands.

"What's wrong with you?" I pleaded. "You should know better than to fight with anyone here. He's bigger than you. He could have hurt you worse than this. What were you thinking? What brought this on? I thought you were okay."

She still wouldn't speak, holding her eyes away from mine even as two thick tears slid own her cheeks.

"Ava, please. I can't help you unless you tell me what brought this on. You know he was only trying to provoke you. And you let him. Why?"

Suddenly, she pushed me away, screaming in my face. "I don't want your help! I don't care if he's bigger than me! My mother's better than him, and I don't care who I have to fight to prove it! You think everything is okay because you don't want anything to be wrong!"

She stormed out of the alcove before I could catch her, but I let her go. Several seconds passed, and Eyreal stepped up beside me.

"She is angry only at herself," she told me softly. "I go make for certain she is okay."

She left without me saying anything else, and I must have stood there five or ten minutes before I stepped out into the village to look around. It didn't look like I'd disrupted anyone else's morning, but the fact that there were some of the people nearby who were trying not to look at me meant that most of them had heard or at least seen what happened.

Even though I'd hoped to avoid something like this, I knew it had been inevitable. I knew not everyone in the Clan would accept Ava no matter how much time she spent here, and I knew some of those people would end up being very vocal about it. But a fist fight, honestly? I didn't see the point. Of course, I'd had my share, especially where Tsu'tey had been concerned.

I found Ava with Eyreal and Thomas sitting out on one of the larger branches of the tree mending the cuts on Ava's arms and face, and when I approached them, they all looked at me.

"_Ma sempul,_" Thomas exclaimed. "You saw the fight?" he asked.

I knelt beside him as Eyreal continued to mend. "I did," I nodded.

"Rey'sik was not fair," he told me. "He tried to fight Ava many times before today. I see those too. He is very mean."

"He is," I agreed.

"He does not See as we do."

I laid my hand over Thomas' shoulder. "No. He doesn't."

Eyreal glanced at me then, wrapping a leaf dressing around Ava's arm. I moved closer to them, watching Ava avert her eyes even as she grimaced softly.

"Is she okay?" I asked softly.

"The cuts and bruises will heal," Eyreal said certainly. "But something else inside her is still broken. I cannot mend that. She will have to do it herself."

I looked at Ava, seeing more tears in her eyes, and I gently took the cleaning cloth from Eyreal's hands, silently nodding for her to go while I spoke to Ava myself. Thomas followed Eyreal without me saying anything, and once they were both gone, I turned to Ava. She wouldn't look at me, but I didn't need her to, lifting the cloth to the corner of her mouth to clean off the blood still oozing from one of her wounds.

She hissed softly, but she didn't pull away, allowing me to continue.

"Sorry," I whispered.

She exhaled sharply, clenching her fists and allowing tears to fall from her eyes again.

"Ava," I whispered. _"Oeru txoa livu."_

I moved the cloth to another wound on her temple, noting how some of her spots were brighter here, and I tried to be gentle. Since she'd come into my life, I hadn't seen her this bad, but I guess I didn't have anyone else to blame but myself. I knew I was too protective of her. I probably didn't have any right to be like that with her, but I couldn't stop myself. I couldn't explain it, but she was so much more to me now than just someone I needed to do right by. She was mine, and I honestly didn't know how to explain that to anyone, especially since Neytiri had really only been gone six months.

"He . . . insulted my mother," Ava whispered, clenching her teeth. "He called her a . . . _Vrrtep sa'nok._ Demon mother. He laughed."

Finally, she looked at me. "My mother sacrificed everything to come here. I remember that now. She learned everything she could. She stayed here while she was carrying me. And he had the nerve to call her an outsider. For having me. I've been here for six months, Jake, and they still haven't accepted me."

I reached out reluctantly, unsure if she wanted me to touch her, but when she didn't pull away, I laid my hand over her shoulder. "I know," I said softly. "And I haven't helped. I'm sorry. I didn't think. I should've let you settle in your own way, and not mine. But you're so close. Even Tu'San thinks you could be ready soon. I don't want you to lose that. I don't want anything to mess that up, not me, not this place, and not some blind _fnawe'tu_ who thinks he knows what he's talking about." I leaned closer to her, whispering. "I know your mother, Ava. I've been watching her in her logs. I know what she did to have you, and I know she loved you. You don't have to think I don't understand. I can't know what it's like to have to defend her memory, and you have every right to want to, but please. Ones like Rey'sik will only push you until they get a reaction out of you. That's all they want. Do you understand that?"

It took her a few seconds, but she nodded, and I eased my hand along her shoulders to the back of her neck. She leaned into me easily, laying her head against my chest and wrapping her hands around my arm. Even though she was so much smaller than me, she was a lot stronger than she looked. I had to keep reminding myself of that every time something like this happened, even if it hadn't happened that often.

"I'm sorry," I whispered again. "I'll do better. I promise."

I held her close, looking around and seeing most of the village quiet. "Come on," I said, leaning back to look at her. "You should eat. Tu'San probably has a big day planned for you."

She allowed me to pull her to her feet, and together, we descended the tree to get the morning meal waiting for us.

Tu'San was waiting with a group of hunters at the edge of the village when Ava and I finished with our breakfast, and Eyreal joined us as we walked through the people moving around with their morning activities. I noticed Rey'sik already mounted on his own _pa'li_, but I didn't say anything, meeting Tu'San while Eyreal found a mount of her own.

"We will be scouting for prey today," Tu'San told me, glancing at Ava and then Rey'sik. "She is very nearly ready, but she must not fight with other _taronyu._"

I glanced at Ava seeing her waiting with Eyreal, and I looked at Tu'San, bowing my head. _"Po tslam."_

"I also understand you wish to come with her," he said to me softly in English, "and though I should not be inclined to agree, I see this is _letsranten_ to you. Therefore if you wish to come with her on her first _taron_, I will allow it."

I glanced at Ava a second time, watching her mount her own _pa'li_ and then look at me. I looked at Tu'San, bowing my head again. "Thank you," I whispered in English.

"But you understand she must do this on her own," he stipulated.

"_Tslolam,"_ I agreed.

He bowed his head then, moving back toward the three other hunters and mounting his own horse as Eyreal made her way toward me on hers. I knew Ava had to ride on her own now, but with me coming along, I had to be the one to share, so when Eyreal extended her arm, I easily mounted the horse behind her. No one said anything as we all began our trek away from Hometree.

Riding out with the hunting party reminded me of a day only six months earlier, and I found myself looking for Ava as she rode a few paces ahead of me and Eyreal. The day was a lot like the one when I'd found her, but this ride felt very different, and not just because she was riding on her own or carrying a bow with a few arrows. I knew she was being watched to see if she was ready for her hunt, and I knew her behavior today would determine whether she was given the chance to go out. I knew she was ready, but it wasn't up to me to decide that, and there wasn't a guarantee that someone wouldn't try to sabotage her chances.

We were all about two or three kilometers from Hometree when Tu'San stopped and dismounted his horse, signaling for the rest of us to do the same. The six or seven of us there followed his lead, and I was at his side with Eyreal after only a minute. I spotted Ava as she arrived at her place, and I finally noticed that she was wearing a stark white breast band strapped around her neck and a teal loincloth. I hadn't even realized she was wearing something different today, and I was surprised. Was she being tested today?

Tu'San ordered everyone to spread out, causing me, Eyreal and Ava to flank him unintentionally as we began our advance through the brush. Since we were tracking a herd of _yerik_ today, I was sure we all knew what to listen for even though we usually didn't talk while we did our tracking. I'd had to learn to be quiet when Neytiri had been training me, since I'd been prone to making a lot of noise whenever I moved. After ten years of hunting with her, I'd improved, but apparently not enough to deter anyone from following me.

I saw Ava through the brush, moving slowly and looking in every direction. By now, she was as good as any of the other hunters here, but I still watched her, making sure she didn't get hurt. With her abrasions from her fight, parts of her skin glistened in the morning sun, and her braided hair was pulled from her face. She was completely involved in the hunt, not seeing or hearing anything other than what she was tracking, and from where I was, it looked like she was seeing and hearing something no one else was.

Even though I'm not sure I meant to, I slowly made my way to where she was as she still advanced, unintentionally leaving a gap between me and the hunter to my right with Ava at my immediate left. I tried not to surprise her, but it seemed like she heard me before I was even a good one or two meters within her position. She didn't react very noticeably, only glancing at me as she began crawling along the forest floor. I mirrored her slowly, looking around and being halted as she stopped abruptly.

"What's wrong?" I whispered.

She hissed, gesturing for me to be quiet and then calling over to Tu'San as he crouched to the floor a good six meters from where we were. I watched Ava's ears perk up, and she sniffed the air, but I knew it wasn't_ yerik_ she was sensing. I knew from the smell in the air it was something bigger and more dangerous. The longer we sat there, the more positive I was of what she'd heard, because I could hear it too. I hadn't heard one in ten years, not since my first day in the forest, and if I was right, it was coming right for us.

I didn't have time to pull Ava out of the way, feeling the brush around me explode as a _palulukan_ sprang through the air toward us. I fell backward, hitting my head against a tree trunk and seeing bright white stars flood my eyes as a massive roar flooded the air. I tried to get up, but firm hands held me down, and I made out the distinct sounds of arrows whizzing through the air. Hunting cries followed, fending off the massive animal, and I slowly got my bearings back, opening my eyes to see Ava straddling me with her hands over my shoulders.

In six months, we'd been closer than this, but for something reason, this was different. I'd spent the last six months without a mate, and even Mo'at had been telling me it wasn't normal. As _olo'eyktan_, I was only meant to be mated to the _tsahik_, or at least one training to be a _tsahik_, and one had yet to be selected. I knew Eyreal was a part of the group Mo'at was selecting from, but Neytiri had chosen me over Tsu'tey. I guess at that point, I'd been holding out hope that I wouldn't have to choose a mate at all.

But laying on the forest floor with Ava above me made me think that Mo'at was right. I absently lifted my hands to Ava's hips, feeling her tail coil around my arm where my hand was holding her. I'd never really looked at her the way I was right now, and I could see she'd never looked at me like this either.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, panting softly. Her eyes were wide with fear as she grasped onto my shoulders.

Slowly, I remembered that I'd hit my head, and I groaned softly, getting up on my elbows as she hovered over me. "I — I think so," I said softly. I lifted my eyes to look at her, now even closer to her than I'd been moments earlier.

"I didn't want you to get hurt," she said softly. "He was coming right at you."

Unconsciously, I smiled, holding the sides of her body as I sat up further and then looking around to see leaves and dust drifting through the air from the attack. "I guess it's a good thing you saw him and I didn't."

She reached for my hand, leaning back and then pulling me to my feet. We both stood there for another minute before Eyreal called to us.

"Come quickly," she cried. "He is hurt!"

Ava and I ran together, reaching where Eyreal was knelt beside Tu'san as he laid on the ground with a massive wound covering his right shoulder. Ava knelt at his other side, and I took position behind her, watching Eyreal as she began to clean his wound. I remembered an injury similar to this one from Ava's second day with him, but it had been on his other shoulder and probably not as bad. He hadn't looked like he'd been in pain then, only annoyed at the fact that he'd been injured. But now, he looked like he was in a lot of pain.

The other hunters in the party were still on point, their bows drawn as they kept watch over the area, and when Eyreal began applying the paste to Tu'San's wound to help it heal, he hissed loudly, reaching for the first thing he could, which happened to be Ava. Normally, I don't think I would have paid much attention. I could remember a few of the injuries I'd sustained when I'd been training with Neytiri, and while she wasn't a highly trained healer, she got by with me since most of my injuries were minor. After a couple of months, I could still remember having to hold still while she worked and not having much control over where I put my hands. But watching Tu'San grasp onto Ava's arm while Eyreal mended and then bandaged his wound made me think of something completely different. And it didn't look like Ava noticed when he eased his long fingers around the bend of her arm for stability. In fact, it looked normal for him to hold her that way. And I was immediately jealous.

"You must keep going," he said to Ava. "You smell _palulukan_ before any of the others. You are ready."

"But you said I would have to wait for the forest," she argued.

His eyes flickered to mine as he realized he would have to pass her test to me and Eyreal while he healed, and then he looked at Ava. "The forest was ready for you many years ago," he told her. "I believe I was the one who needed to be ready. You go."

Ava glanced at me, silent as she and Eyreal helped Tu'San sit up. Then Eyreal spoke to me.

"His wounds too deep for him to continue," she said. "We must take her, and the others return him to village. Are you ready?"

There was a double meaning in Eyreal's words, and even though I knew she was asking if I would be able to continue with just the three of us, I also knew she was asking if I was ready to let Ava do this on her own. This was what I'd been working for the last six months, and I wasn't even the slightest bit hesitant, grinning as I looked at Ava. "I was ready a long time ago."

"Then we go," Eyreal said helping Tu'San to his feet before he turned to Ava.

He whispered to her softly, blessing her on her hunt and wishing her speed before he looked at me. But he didn't say anything to me. I didn't need him to. I knew he'd done everything he could to prepare her for this, and for him to not be there when she succeeded meant he would have to rely on someone else for her success. I was pretty sure he hadn't expected me to be the one he relied on. But he trusted me. I was grateful for that.

Ava strapped on her bow, lowering her hand to her knife to wait while Eyreal helped Tu'San to where the other hunters were waiting. As soon as he was on his own _pa'li_, the other hunters followed, leaving the three of us alone. Eyreal returned to where Ava and I were now standing, speaking softly as she laid her hand on Ava's shoulder.

"'_Ewan'aw eyayk taron_," she said, a wide smile on her face.

Ava mirrored her smile, lifting her eyes to mine and then immediately running off to the south in the direction everyone else had been going before the attack. Eyreal and I followed, giving Ava a wide berth but staying close enough in case anything happened on the way.

Even though the sun was shining and there were no clouds in the sky at all, the thick canopy of the forest blocked most of the light out even with the rays on sun that were shining through the foliage. I stayed at least seven meters away from Ava with Eyreal at my side, and I made sure she was still in my eyesight before I whispered Eyreal as softly as I could without disrupting Ava's advance.

"Why didn't you tell me he was testing her today?" I demanded softly, crawling along the forest floor a few steps at a time as Ava did the same several paces ahead of us. "You changed her."

"I _was_ on way to tell you," she confided. "But I was not able to do so. And with her unwillingness to speak to you, I chose to focus on mending her injury. I was preparing her when Rey'sik challenge her. It is first time her anger flare in long time."

She paused as Ava also paused, and we watched her silently for a few seconds before she began moving again.

"Where did you find the material to make that?" I whispered.

Eyreal grinned. "I make special request to _täftxuyu_ almost whole cycle previous," she said proudly. "I was certain of her success, but I admit I had to keep recipient of article secret. It suits her, do you not think?"

"Three months?" I exclaimed softly, and she nodded.

I looked at Ava, seeing that she had stopped again, and with her back to me, I could see how her stripes moved with her muscles and limbs. Her breast band moved with her but appeared to give her the ability to remain silent as she crouched to the forest floor. Even from where I was, I could see her lay her hand over her knife, and I urged Eyreal closer to be there if Ava needed one of us.

"It does suit her," I agreed quietly.

"She needed more support than other _tsmuke _on their first hunt," Eyreal whispered softly. "Ava is very unique in her needs."

I watched Ava remove her bow then, leaving her knife in its holster on her thigh, and I realized all too quickly that she'd found what she was looking for. I nodded for Eyreal to follow closer since it was more her place to see this than mine, and then I followed silently.

I didn't think much about how far we were out, and I wasn't worried. If it was necessary to protect Ava out here, with her bow and her knife, I was pretty sure she could do it herself. I think the_ yerik_ we were all silently following were about to have to protect themselves from the hunter about to make her presence known.

The group of animals nearby milled around the forest in a small area, obviously able to keep each other in sight, but there were two smaller members of the group wandering in the opposite direction. Ava followed them, creeping along the forest floor silently and holding her bow in front of her. None of the others noticed their departure, but after several minutes, I could see that had been Ava's intention all along. It was clear she already knew what she was doing, and I absently wondered who could have taught her to survive in the forest for so long.

At this point in her mother's logs, there was no real indication that anyone had taken it upon themselves to show Ava anything having to do with the hunt. In fact, Ava was still a year from meeting me in her mother's logs, and there was nothing being said about anyone teaching her anymore than what was absolutely necessary. I knew there was still a lot more I needed to see, and I had hoped to see it before Ava's test, but I knew enough. And I could see Eyreal become aware of Ava's knowledge before I also saw something in her eyes I hadn't expected. _Joy._

Ava eased closer to her prey, and we got closer to her as one of the two stragglers continued wandering away from the main herd. Even though I thought it wouldn't be possible for the green and blue foliage to camouflage Ava as she moved through the underbrush, neither of the animals paid her any attention, allowing her to get within shooting distance.

She got a little closer than I had on my first hunt, training the animal in her sights and taking aim before she released her arrow straight into his shoulder. A loud cry followed, scaring off the others, but Ava was already on the move, gliding through the brush toward her prey as he slumped to the ground with a low moan. Eyreal followed her, grasping her own bow and watching as Ava finished the hunt with a stab to the animal's jugular, whispering a blessing and a prayer.

Eyreal glanced at me with a small grin on her face before she moved closer to Ava. "_Txantsan_," she whispered, laying a gentle hand over Ava's shoulder. "He is just right size for you. A clean kill." She looked at me. "She is ready. I knew she would be."

I moved closer slowly, observing Ava's kill and seeing how precise her aim had been. She easily pulled her arrow out, and I laid my hands over the animal lifting my eyes to Ava's. Watching her hunt and kill prey was having the strangest effect on me, and I didn't know how to hide it, grinning myself as I spoke softly.

"Now we just need to find something to haul it back to the village," I commented, to which they both smiled and laughed softly.

Since I was tallest and most obviously the biggest, it only made sense that I carried the dead animal from the place where he'd died, and even though it wasn't my kill, Ava wasn't big enough to carry him herself. I didn't mind at all, and Eyreal didn't seem to mind either, walking with Ava as they quietly discussed how Ava had tracked the _yerik_ and seen her opportunity to take him. I watched the two of them together as I walked behind them, thinking how comfortable with each other they looked after six months. Clearly, they'd spent enough time together to be this way toward each other, but there was something else, something underlying that became obvious to me now. I was surprised I'd never seen it before, but the way they interacted with each other only made it more obvious. They'd obviously known each other before, even if that wasn't supposed to be possible. Was it?

Having carried my own kills to the village myself for the last ten years, I probably could've carried this one too. But the importance of Ava taking him in won out the moment we spotted the two _pa'li _we'd ridden away from Hometree still milling in the small clearing where we'd left them. I didn't know if they'd been left here intentionally, but I didn't object, carrying the animal to one of the horses and tossing him over the back. Ava took point then, connecting her queue to the horse's and letting him know what they were doing before she pulled his reigns to get him moving. In the growing light of day, I could already see bruises on her face and arms, and I was immediately reminded of her fight. But I didn't say anything. And I hoped nothing needed to be said.

Eyreal and I decided to pull the other horse behind Ava, since we'd had a little trouble getting both of us situated on him on the way out. They were really only meant to carry one passenger, and two was asking a lot, so only one of us connected to him to urge him forward. I was the oldest, so I won by default, but while we were a couple of meters behind Ava, I used the semi-privacy to speak to Eyreal about my suspicions.

"We need to talk about something," I said to her softly.

"We do?" she asked.

"Yes. I've been watching you with Ava, and I've been thinking about something. I guess I always thought you saw her for the first time when everyone else did, but that isn't true is it? You've seen her before, haven't you?"

She looked at me as she walked on the other side of the horse, her face unreadable even as she looked ahead at Ava and then bowed her head. "Yes," she whispered. "I see her before."

"How is that possible?" I asked. "Grace's school was closed down before Ava was born. I don't understand. I mean, I know her mother was in the village before having her, but she was still pregnant when they went back to base. Where did you see her? How old was she?"

Again, she looked at me, then looking at Ava and fidgeting with the reigns in her hands. "I was not always Omaticaya. I was part of different clan, very far from here. I was very nearly thir-teen ten years ago when _sawtute_ attack Na'vi. My mother, father and brothers all die that day. But before with them, I was once wanderer, very far from village some days. Always_ tìerkxey si._ Mother often not know what to do with me," she said with a small smile. "She was _tsahik _with clan."

She paused, grasping onto the reigns tighter as old memories obviously made themselves known. I didn't like making her remember the bad things she was thinking of, but I didn't really have to say anymore, listening to her continue softly.

"One day, I wandering far from village when I find two strange looking creatures. One very tall, the other very small, but not look at all like me. Her skin pink in spots and blue in others. I was innocent then," she said, lifting her eyes to mine. "I not influenced by talk of _sawtute_ or_ uniltìranyu_ then. I not know of danger then. But they not danger to me. They nice to me. My friends."

"Where did you find them?" I asked, now closer to her with my voice lower than it had been.

"I not keep track," she admitted. "I very small then and not concerned with such things. I only concerned with making it home, that I did each time. But they wandering too, find me in forest many times. Little girl smaller than me and man much taller. His hands and feet like yours. His face and skin also. His voice gentle but powerful. He love her very much. But then I not see them for many years. I never see him again. But I find her grown. Ready to be _taronyu_."

"Why didn't you tell me the day I brought Ava to the village?" I pleaded. "I was so worried no one would accept her."

"I could not. Not until _ma tsahik _agree for her to be taught. I not think she choose Tu'San for task, but am glad he teach her too. And when he hurt, I forget of knowledge you must know. I think only of keeping her safe. Was not right?"

"No," I said quickly, "it was right. I was afraid of what people would think also. I'm glad Tu'San has taught her too. He was a good choice. I see that now. I probably won't be allowed to go on _iknimaya_ with her. But with the two of you, I know she'll do good."

Eyreal became quiet as we walked, looking up at Ava and then speaking softly to me. "Neytiri say she met you in Thundering Rocks when you go," she said. "Could not you do same for Ava this time?"

I smiled. "I've thought about it. First, we have to get her back to the village. We have a celebration to get underway."

"We do," she agreed. "Next _iknimaya_ not for several days. Tu'San say he waiting for her to be ready to go. Plenty time to prepare her for _ikran_."

The village was, not surprisingly, buzzing when we all arrived with Ava's kill. I hadn't even realized how far into the day it was until I smelled the beginnings of lunch filling the air around Hometree. Several hunters greeted us as we pulled both _pa'li_ to the grove behind the village, and Mo'at and Tu'San were both waiting for us with appraising smiles on their faces. I had to admit, I was very proud of Ava, and I could see on their faces they were also impressed with her kill since it was much bigger than she was.

"She need help carrying kill back to village," I heard and looked back to see Rey'sik hanging nearby with a few other teenagers who were laughing until I looked in their direction. They stopped. He didn't. "I carry my own kill on my bare shoulders. Shooting _tsko swizaw_ does not make her _taronyu_. _Ikran_ kill her first try."

I ground my teeth together, feeling a gentle, long-four-fingered hand ease around my arm.

"Do not respond," Eyreal whispered. "He only jealous. It take him three tries to make first kill. He train for whole life, embarrass father many times. She here not long, make many proud. She is strong," she stressed, staring up into my eyes. "She succeed."

I bowed my head, following Ava into the grove as three others approached her to help her with the _yerik_ draped over the back of her horse. I could see their smiles, even if they looked more surprised than anything, and they took the animal to prepare it for the feast that would take place that night.

"Avamelia," Mo'at beckoned, looking at me and urging me forward with her. We both moved to where she was waiting with Tu'San, and he and I switched places so he was standing next to Ava. I noticed his shoulder still bandaged, and his arm was wrapped to his chest to keep it immobile. But he looked happy, standing up straight and placing his hand over her shoulder.

Since I was _olo'eyktan_, it was usually my place to recognize a training hunter's achievement when they made their first kill. And I would have been happy to do it this time, but with as close as I was to Ava, Mo'at and I had agreed that just this once, she would be the one to acknowledge Ava's success. Honestly, I was just glad it was being done. I'd had no doubt in my mind it would happen, and when Mo'at laid her hands over Ava's shoulders and spoke firmly, I felt most of the weight I'd felt lift off my own shoulders.

"You have done well, _'Ewan'aw_," Mo'at said, lifting her eyes to everyone else who'd gathered around the center of the village. "Tonight, we will celebrate your achievement with food, drink, songs and dance."

Ava bowed her head appreciatively, smiling slightly.

Activities for the feast began almost immediately, and Eyreal moved to Ava's side, smiling up at me.

"I make her new article for feast," she proclaimed. "Should have just enough time."

I nodded my approval, and they walked off together as Tu'San moved to my side and spoke informally.

"I should have taken her out long ago," he said softly. "She learned so quickly. But this is also good."

"All things happen at the right time," I replied. "You taught her well. She did good today." I paused, turning to face him. "Although it would have been helpful to know she was being tested today. I coulda made myself scarce."

"I am glad you were there," he conceded. "I did not want to admit it, but having you there made her very sensitive to the forest. Strange thing I see today. But still, she did well. She has made me proud."

"Me as well," I agreed, nodding approvingly.

* * *

The feast that night was what all Na'vi parties are rumored to be. I remembered my first celebration when I'd still been learning from Neytiri, and this one did not pale in comparison. Even though we were celebrating the achievement of someone who had no obvious ties to the clan, no one really seemed to care, or well, most people. As long as there was food, music and a little dancing, which I fortunately didn't have to participate in, most everyone was content celebrating the way they always did.

Eyreal had apparently taken it upon herself to make sure Ava not only had her own audience, but also a few children to surround her so none of the hold-outs would start any fights. Rey'sik and his friends, while they ate the food and took part in the singing and dancing, didn't bother Ava while she sat with me or Eyreal or anyone else. I figured as long as she was never alone, she was safe.

I also noticed that Eyreal had dressed Ava in a new breast band that was deep crimson along with a matching loincloth. She'd also had time to take Ava's hair down so that it reached her waist the way it had when I'd first found her. But now, it was washed and combed with the front pulled from her face. There were still little braids laced through it, but knowing that Ava had allowed anyone to fawn over her made me curious as to exactly what she and Eyreal had done all those years ago upon their first meeting.

As was tradition with anyone's first kill, it was customary for the hunter's family to have the first taste, but since Ava didn't have family here, Mo'at allowed her to choose the people who would be allowed to eat from her kill first. I wasn't surprised when she chose me and Thomas. Eyreal and Tu'San looked surprised by her also choosing them, but they accepted her offer without question.

Since it was a party and there were festivities to get out of the way, I was obligated to oversee a lot of it, but after the first few, I think Mo'at could tell I was a little distracted, especially when I kept watching Ava out of the corner of my eye to make sure she was okay. So she relieved me of my duties for the night, allowing me to wander over to where Ava was sitting with Eyreal and a couple of girls who looked about her age.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked them, noticing how they all giggled as I stepped through their small circle and sat behind Ava as Eyreal stood swiftly.

"Good you are here," she said. "I make gift with Thomas for _Ava-tsyìp_."

I watched her curiously, looking at Ava as the two girls rose to leave also, extending their hands to touch Ava's shoulders.

"We talk tomorrow," the one wearing the multi-colored feathers said certainly. "About boys here."

"You be hunter for boy soon," the other one wearing a beaded chest piece added, and they left with wide smiles.

"Boys?" I repeated, and she blushed slightly.

"It's just girl stuff," she promised. "They were talking about how after I go on _iknimaya_ that I'll be a prime target for mates. I didn't know how to tell them the idea of mating with someone like Rey'sik is not an intriguing prospect, or a desirable one."

"Oh, I'm not letting that kid anywhere near you," I swore, to which she laughed. "And that's a promise. But some others will probably see you as mate-like material after you complete the climb. I still sometimes wonder if that's what made Neytiri see something in me she didn't see upon saving my ass in the forest the first night. But I guess I'll always wonder."

I looked at her, seeing a sad look in her eyes, and I was about to ask what was wrong when Eyreal came back with Thomas at her side. They were holding something behind them, but I couldn't see what it was until they stepped apart to reveal a _p'ah s'ivil chey_ between the two of them.

"For you," Eyreal gestured to Ava, gesturing for her to come closer.

I followed her, approaching Eyreal and Thomas as they held the rack proudly. It was about the same size as mine, but made of more delicate materials that included richer colors and more detail than I thought was possible. It was bare right now, but I knew Ava already had plenty of things to hang on it.

"This where you place all things given to you," Eyreal said to Ava softly. "Bow and arrows, necklaces from _ma tsahik_ and articles from me. Goggles for _ikran_ and strides for legs when not flying. I make with Thomas last several weeks for you."

Ava reached out to touch the wood and fabric used to make the main part of the rack, and she smiled wide, lifting her eyes to mine as tears slide down her cheeks. I lifted my hand to wipe them away, whispering to her.

"You were saying something about people not accepting you?" I asked playfully.

She laughed, taking my hand in hers and then looking at Eyreal. "_Fi'u lor. Irayo, ma tsmuke._"

Eyreal smiled then too, lifting her hand to Ava's. "Thomas take you to put it with _Eywa k'sey nivi'bri'sta_. Next to mine," she said to Thomas.

He nodded, taking Ava's hand and pulling her off as Eyreal moved to my side and spoke softly.

"Tonight and every night until _iknimaya_, she sleep in _nivi_. I keep watch over her. Promise."

Even though I wanted to protest, I knew not to. I knew I'd been keeping Ava near me for too long and for all the wrong reasons. She wasn't my daughter or even a step-daughter from my brother. She was a whole person without me, and I knew with her making her first kill, it was time to let her be on her own. I still didn't like it, especially with Rey'sik and his friends being assholes and cowards about her presence in the clan. I was still afraid she was going to get hurt and I wasn't going to be able to stop it.

"I hope you know what you're doing," I said to Eyreal.

She only touched my arm, silently telling me she hoped as well.

With the party winding down, I took it upon myself to find Ava with Thomas while they were hanging her new belongings on her new _chey_. They were by themselves since Eyreal had yet to make her way up here, and when they saw me, they both smiled. Thomas rose then, moving to my side.

"I will sleep next to Ava tonight too?" he asked softly.

"Maybe eventually," I said to him laying a hand on his shoulder. "She's getting ready for a big event, so it's gonna be just us for a little while, okay, buddy?"

He looked disappointed, since he'd been getting a taste of sleeping by himself on the occasional incident when I would have to do night tracking with Ava. But it was more of a tradition for families to sleep together, so until he was training to be a hunter — which he insisted he would do like I had — for now, he would be sleeping with me. Mo'at sometimes had asked me and Neytiri why we hadn't had more children, but Thomas had been enough for us. There were still days when I regretted not having another child with her, whether it had been another boy or a girl.

I moved closer to Ava, helping her with the rack. "Come on," I said softly. "I know where this is supposed to go."

She didn't say anything, allowing me to guide her further out into the tree and further upward where I knew Eyreal slept sometimes. In six months, I'd learned about Eyreal's familial ties, about the family who'd "adopted" her, and I knew she still slept with them most of the time. But she'd decided to watch Ava for the next several days until _iknimaya_, so she would be sleeping in the hammock next to Ava's.

There were already some members of the clan slipping into their own hammocks, and there were families laying down from the feast. I found Eyreal's hammock, kneeling over the one to the right and carefully hanging Ava's rack over it so that all her clothes, necklaces and her bow were directly above the hammock. Then I turned to her.

"You ready to sleep by yourself?" I asked softly.

"Rea thinks I'm ready," she whispered.

"Rea?" I repeated.

She blushed as Eyreal stepped out onto the branch and came toward us. I watched her for a minute, and she jumped onto the branch just below where the hammocks were hanging, lowering herself into her own hammock and then looking up at me.

"Do you trust me?" I asked Ava, peering over the edge of the branch at the hammock and sort of gauging how far down it was.

"Of course," she said obviously.

I took her arm in mine without saying anything, urging her onto the edge and then slowly lowering her into the hammock. As soon as she had her footing, I leaned back, allowing her to get her bearings before I spoke again.

"Okay?"

She looked at Eyreal, staring a few minutes before she looked at me and nodded.

I tried to smile even though I was uneasy about leaving her here. "Okay," I said. "See you in the morning."

"Try to get sleep," Eyreal told me.

I didn't reply, bowing my head and standing up to leave. I kept them both in my sights as I moved along the branch and then back to where Thomas was laying on our mat looking up at the sky.

"_Ma sempul_," he said softly.

"Yeah?" I whispered, laying beside him and looking up into the tree.

"Is Ava really going to have _ikran_ like you?" he asked.

"I hope so," I admitted. "She's earned the chance the try. I just hope no one tries to mess that up."

"Will I have _ikran_ one day too?"

I smiled. "If that's what you want," I replied diplomatically.

"Do you still miss _ma sa'nok_?"

I looked at him, seeing a blank expression on his face as he still looked upward. "I miss her every day, Thomas. I always will." I got up on my elbow, facing him. "No one will ever replace your mother, Thomas. That's a promise."

"But you are unhappy," he said softly. "_Ma tsahik_ say it is not right to be without mate. Do you not wish to have another?"

I honestly hadn't thought about it until today, and coming into close contact with Ava had forced it to front of my mind. In six months, she'd changed right before my eyes, and I couldn't ignore it anymore. Whatever had happened with me and Neytiri, I didn't know if it was happening between me and Ava, but I strangely didn't know if it was the right thing to do. I wasn't really an outsider anymore even when a younger member of the clan decided I wasn't doing what was best for everyone else. Neytiri had been the clan leader's daughter. Mating with me had been the most unexpected thing for her to do, and I still wondered if she'd ever regretted it. I couldn't say all this to Thomas, but I couldn't lie to him either.

"_Ma tsahik_ told you the truth," I said to him. "It's not right to be without a mate. But I'll let you know when I am ready, so she can pass your tests too. Okay?"

He liked the sound of that, nodding and looking back up at the sky. "Do you think Sky people will ever return?" he asked unexpectedly.

I laid back, looking up at the sky. "I'm sure of it," I said softly. "But we'll be ready for them. Right now, we just need to get some sleep. Okay?"

He didn't ask anymore questions, and for that, I was grateful, relaxing over the mat and closing my eyes to get some sleep even though I didn't know how I was going to do that without Ava close enough for me to touch in case I woke up before anyone else did.

I'd been used to Na'vi mating practices for the last ten years before Neytiri's death, so I knew what was expected of me in that department. But after falling asleep that night, I had a dream that I was with a woman. A Human woman. It was strange because I hadn't been with a Human woman in so long. Okay, it really hadn't been _that_ long. But this dream felt real. I could smell her. I could feel her body connected with mine. I could taste her, and I was more shocked than anything to realize that I felt more connected to this woman than I ever had to anyone in my life — even Neytiri. I didn't know how it was possible.

Something else that shocked me was the fact that I had no tail and no queue, but I knew more of this woman's thoughts and feelings than any of the thoughts and feelings of the mate I'd had for ten years. I didn't think that was possible, at least not until I felt the need to look at the woman I was laying with, and then it became all too clear.

"_We're not really supposed to be doing this,"_ she whispered, leaning closer to kiss me and lifting her fingertips to my cheek.

"_I like to live dangerously,"_ I whispered back.

"_But Norm said it wasn't safe."_

"_Do you really want to think about Norm right now?"_

She smiled, easing her hands down my back and then rubbing my skin until she was grasping onto my shoulders. _"No. I only want to think about you. I love you."_

I smiled too, kissing her again. _"I love you, Amy."_

I opened my eyes with a start, seeing Thomas and Eyreal above me. It was well past morning, and I knew they'd probably been trying to wake me for a while. I still wasn't sure what was happening to me, but I knew one thing for sure. It had everything to do with Ava's mother and my brother.

Something else I knew for sure was that I wasn't going to fight whatever I was feeling for Ava — be it the desire to have her as a daughter to me I had no right to have or as a mate I had no claim to other than her claim to me.

* * *

**Another dream. Hmm. I wonder what this is supposed to mean. Surely, everything's okay with Jake, right?**

**Okay, I warned you - here comes the catalog of definitions!**

**_Ikran _- Mountain Banshee**

_**Tsa'u nìtam**_ - **That's enough**

**_Ke niayoeng - _Not like us**

**_Fayvrrtep -_These demons**

**_Ma sempul - _Father**

**_Oeru txoa livu - _Forgive me. (Neytiri says this in the movie over the viperwolves she has to save Jake from.)**

**_Vrrtep sa'nok -_ Demon mother**

**_Fnawe'tu - _Coward**

**_pa'li _- big horses the size of elephants!**

**_Taronyu - _We should all know what this is**

**_Po tslam - _She understand(s).**

**_Letstanten - _Important**

**_Tslolam - _I understand.**

**_Yerik - _Kind of like deer.**

**_Palulukan - _Big scary cat that sounds like a T-Rex.**

**_Olo'eyktan - _We all know this one too.**

**_Tsahik - _Matriarch; Interpreter of Eywa - Mo'at**

**_'Ewan'aw eyayk taron - _Young one will lead the hunt. (This is an approximation. I'm by no means a linguist of any kind.)**

**_täftxuyu - _Weaver**

**_tsmuke_ - sister**

**_Txantsan - _Excellent**

**_Sawtute - _Sky People**

**_Omaticaya - _Blue Flute Clan (Don't we all wish we were a part of their world)**

**_Tierkxey si - _Be messing up (?) (Again, an approximation. It took forever to find this and make it work.)**

**_Tsko swizaw - _bow and arrow**

**_'Ewan'aw - _Young one**

**_Ava-tsyip - _Little Ava (Consider this a term of endearment. I think it's cute!)**

**_p'ah s'ivil chey - _Personal belongings rack, informally called "chey" (If only all my stuff fit on one!)**

**_Fi'u lor - _This is beautiful. (And I'm sure it absolutely was.)**

**_Irayo, ma tsmuke - _Thank you, sister.**

**_Eywa k'sey nivi'bri'sta - _hammock, informally called "nivi"**

**_ma sa'nok - _mother**

**

* * *

**

**What? I told it was a catalog. Hope I didn't lose anybody with all the new words. I know I had lots of trouble finding all of them, but guess it helps to have a website with a vocabulary that just keeps growing. **

**Thanks for all the alerts, reviews and favorites. I really appreciate them!**

**Until next time, Keep Calm and Carry on!  
**


	19. Kelku si Soaia

**Felt the urge to crank this one out, so here it is. I can still remember one the first reviews I got for this story suggesting that Ava could be a love interest for Jake, and at the time, I'm not sure if I was really considering it. But since I've been writing them in close quarters lately, it's just sort of happened.**

**I really liked writing this part, and it just came out so fast. A lot of the other chapters before and ideas after this one gave me a lot of trouble, but this one came together really well. Oh, enough of my rambling. On with the story.**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

_**Kelku si Soaia**_

For the several days that passed between Ava's kill and the next _iknimaya_ which I now knew Tu'San had been postponing so she could go, Ava slept in her _nivi_ next to Eyreal. Her neighbor rebraided her hair for more excursions into the forest, and she acquired more things to hang on her _chey_. She began to fit in with the girls around her more than she had upon arriving. The only ones who gave her a hard time were Rey'sik and a few of his friends. They tried to antagonize her and bait her, but after the day they'd fought, it stopped working. That didn't mean to say that Ava didn't give him a taste of his own medicine. She and a few of the girls she'd become friends with never missed an opportunity to make sure Rey'sik and his friends knew how many more of them there were than of him.

After Ava's first kill and after she began sleeping away from me, it became more difficult for me to concentrate on more than getting through her mother's last year of logs, especially those that took place while I'd been on base — or rather, on Pandora since I'd really only been on base a couple of weeks before Grace had moved me and Norm up into the mountains. I found it strangely comforting that she documented that day very well, especially mentioning the fact that I really did look just like Tommy and I really was a thorn in Grace's side upon my arrival. But there was also something I hadn't expected. _Relief._

"_I didn't think I would feel this way,"_ she said softly, sitting by herself in front of the video log. _"But I have this feeling that everything is going to be okay. I can't explain it. Maybe I've lived here too long. Maybe I'm not really Human anymore. Maybe I'm more like the people who were born here and have lived here their whole lives. But the feeling I have says that this will end up being a good thing. Even if Ava's curious and won't really be deterred from her questions, I think it'll be all right. I can't say any of this to Grace. She's already vowed to keep me at a far distance from him. But I'm going to make a deal with her she won't be able to refuse. So if it works, I'll still be able to see his progress and maybe even his adjustment. I can't tell Warren either. He's gotten used to having me all to himself. I don't know how to tell him this. I don't think he would understand."_

In a way, it made me feel a little better knowing she hadn't resented me when I'd arrived. Of course, I'd probably ended up making a mess of her whole life, but it was a start.

I still had to watch her at night, while Thomas and the rest of the village was asleep, and most of the nights until the next climb were quiet. But the night before was the strangest night I'd had there in all the years I'd lived there. And it started with a nightmare, even if the nightmare wasn't my own.

It was Ava's scream that woke me from my dreamless sleep, crying for her mother from only a couple of levels down. It was her pleas that forced me from my son's sleeping side to hurry to where she was thrashing in her hammock next to Eyreal who was rising to find out what was wrong. I intervened before she could, kneeling above Ava's hammock quickly.

"I got this," I pressed, automatically lowering myself to Ava's hammock until I was above her as she still cried.

"Ava," I whispered, touching her face as tears slid down her cheeks. "Ava, it's okay. I'm here."

"Mama," she pleaded.

I absently lifted my eyes, discovering Eyreal directly above us, and I sighed softly, still whispering to Ava. "Open your eyes, Ava," I begged. "It's okay. I'm right here."

"_Pay_," Eyreal whispered, lowering a bladder of water to me while still kneeling over the branch.

Once I had the water, I used a little to wet my hand, rubbing it over Ava's forehead. The cool liquid seemed to get her attention, and she opened her eyes, discovering me above her and lifting her hands to my arms.

"Are you okay?" I whispered, easing my fingertips over her forehead.

"Yes," she replied softly.

"You were screaming," I exclaimed. "Were you having a bad dream?"

"Something — I saw something . . . wrong. My mother was sick. Blood everywhere. Screaming and shouting. She was . . . dead. I saw them. They . . . killed her. I wasn't dreaming," she exhaled, grasping onto my arms tightly. "It was . . . real. I was . . . very young."

I remembered what Norm had told me about Amelia and how a guard had killed her after catching her outside without a mask. I still hadn't watched any of the logs near the time when she would have died, but it was very clear something had caused Ava to be awakened by this now. I wanted to tell myself it was because she was leaving for _iknimaya_ the next morning. I wanted to believe it was because she was nervous or scared. But I knew that wasn't really the problem. I wondered if she was having the same problem I was having, with an unknown or unseen force pulling her strings and making her think or see things she needed to see. But why would she need to be reminded of her mother's death? Why was I dreaming about being in a human body again? None of it made any sense.

"It's okay," I whispered to her gently, vaguely aware of her tail as it made its presence known around one of my legs.

I relaxed at Ava's side then, still inside the hammock and allowing her to lay as close to me as she wanted while she laid her forehead against my shoulder. I didn't even think about where my tail was until she laughed softly.

"Just a little possessive?" she whispered, and I became intensely aware of my tail as it laid wrapped around her hip to coil around her leg.

But I didn't move it. I didn't want to.

"Come on," I whispered, looking up at Eyreal and nodding for her to get closer. "I know where we can go so we can talk."

I took her waist in my hands, helping her to her knees so she could reach for Eyreal's hands. Together, we lifted Ava out of her hammock and onto the branch above it. I followed, and while Eyreal appeared to return to her own hammock reluctantly, I pulled Ava down the tree where only a few people were milling about in the middle of the night. None of them seemed to pay us any attention, and I preferred it that way, pulling Ava to the grove behind the village where a few _pa'li_ were still grazing despite the hour.

It wasn't easy coaxing one of them to leave their late-night meal, but once I did, I pulled the horse's neural whip to my own queue and mounted easily before pulling Ava into the saddle behind me. She laid her head against my back, wrapping her arms around my chest and grasping onto my shoulders as I urged the horse from the grove.

"Where are we going?" she whispered softly.

I moved my hands to hers. "Some place quiet. Don't worry. You'll see. I promise."

She inhaled deep then, pressing her chest to my back and making me immediately aware of the fact that she wasn't wearing anything but her loincloth. I hadn't been this close to anyone in six months. I was suddenly afraid of doing or saying something wrong.

"I'm not worried," she whispered against my skin. "I trust you, Jake."

I only bowed my head, grasping onto her hands tightly.

When Ava saw the waterfall over my shoulder, she held onto me tighter, and I looked at her, seeing the smile on her face. I smiled too, urging the horse closer until we were very near the edge.

"It's been a little while since I came here," I told her, disconnecting from the horse and then dismounting over the front of the saddle so I could turn to her and help her down. She held onto my shoulders, looking around the glade and then stepping closer to the edge of the waterfall pool.

"It's beautiful," she said softly.

"It's private," I added, watching her step into the water and then following her slowly. "No one should bother us here. So we can talk about your dreams. And maybe mine too."

She eased into the water until she was treading up to her neck, and I stopped in front of her, smiling slightly.

"You dream too?" she asked.

I nodded.

"What do you dream about?"

I reached for her through the water, moving her toward the waterfall. "Come over here," I whispered, swimming toward a natural ledge and then sitting her on it to sit next to her.

She still gazed around, smiling and lifting her hand to her face. She pulled her hair over her shoulder, looking at me again. "I thought I'd forgotten what happened to my mother," she said softly. "I thought I'd forgotten how she died. But since I've been with you, I see her in my dreams. Sometimes, she cries out to me. Sometimes, she comforts me. But mostly, I watch her die."

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I've had dreams too. About my brother and your mother. And about strange things."

She reached for my face, revealing a bracelet that shimmered in the soft light of the forest. I looked closer, realizing that her necklace was now laced inside the bracelet. I looked at her.

"Did Eyreal make this for you too?" I asked.

She slowly pulled her arm from my hand, looking away and then rising from the ledge to walk through the knee-high water. "No," she said.

I followed her slowly, moving closer to the waterfall. "Then who did?" I asked softly.

She hesitated, not saying anything until I was closer. "My teacher," she said, lifting her eyes to mine.

I didn't pretend to understand, wrapping my hand around her arm again and then taking her hand in mine. "I know I gave it to you, the first time anyway," I said softly. "I can't believe I forgot that. But I know it now. Did he make it out of courtesy or necessity?"

She inhaled deeply. "He realized how important it was to me and decided it wouldn't be damaged if it wasn't around my neck. I never told him where I got it, but I refused to take it off. It was the best compromise he could make. It . . . confuses me with it like this."

"Why?"

She hesitated again, looking away for several seconds and then looking at me again. "Because whether you meant to or not, you gave me something that was the only reminder I had of who I'd been. And I never thought I would see you again," she said lifting her hand to my face. She looked at her bracelet. "But then he gave me this. And I'm confused. I thought he hated me."

I stepped a little closer to her, and she laid both her hands over my chest. Her head barely reached my breast bone, so I found a rock for her to stand on, lowering my hands to her waist and allowing her to wrap her arms around my shoulders. "I imagine what's happened to him has happened to me. And Eyreal. We know what you've done to come as far as you have. We've seen you cry, sweat and bleed for this clan, and I doubt he ever really hated you. All the clans have been touched by Sky People, so they're all resentful. But he knows you. And I hope he understands you. So maybe he just wanted to make it easier for you to learn the things you needed to learn without worrying about something important to you."

She leaned closer to me, setting her chin on my shoulder, and I pulled her closer to hold her against me. "I love you, Jake," she whispered softly, wrapping one of her hands around the back of my neck close to my queue.

Chills assailed all my senses, causing me to hold her tighter.

"I know it probably doesn't mean much right now," she continued. "I know it would probably be wrong, but I just wanted you to know. I haven't really loved anyone since I was a little girl. But now it's different."

"Why—" I stopped, feeling her get chills too. "Why is it wrong?" I whispered.

"Because you're _olo'eyktan_, Jake. You're supposed to be with the _tsahik_, and I'm pretty sure you won't be mating with Mo'at."

I chuckled despite myself. "No, probably not." I leaned back to look at her. "But I'll choose who I want. I guess it was coincidence that Neytiri and I were mated and then I became the clan leader. It's a tradition that's already been broken once. I wouldn't worry about doing it a second time."

She seemed to listen, lowering her hand to the right side of my chest and finding a scar I hadn't thought about in more than ten years. I probably actually hadn't thought about it when it happened except for the fact that it stung like hell.

I lifted my hand to hers, breathing deep and leaning forward more naturally than I had in six months. Our noses touched, and I could have kissed her.

"_Nìn fì'u_," I heard, turning back to the bank to see Rey'sik and two of his friends there instead of the horse that had carried me and Ava to the waterfall.

They were all laughing and baring their teeth. I hissed softly.

"You gotta be kidding me," I groaned, moving Ava behind me as the width of the waterfall pool separated them from us.

"_Olo'eyktan tìmuntxa hu vrrtep_," Rey'sik sneered, and his friends laughed. "Look like you in wrong place wrong time."

"Don't do this," I ordered. "Go home. Leave here and go home. Or you won't like what I do to you."

"You not in position to make threat," he hissed. "You leader only by default. My cousin should have been leader. I no have to listen to you make threat."

"Oh, it's not a threat," I commanded. "It's a promise. Now leave!"

"I leave when you make me," he taunted. "I leave when I pay _vrrtep_ back for fist in face."

Ava wrapped her hands around my arms, and I looked at her. "It's okay," she said with a nod. "I hit him where it hurt before. I can do it again. I'm not weak," she swore.

I saw fire in her eyes the way I had the day I'd found her, and I knew she was still trying to prove herself to some members of the clan. I still didn't want her to get hurt, but I realized it wasn't really up to me anymore. She could take care of herself, even if that meant fighting with a coward and his two stupid friends. Good thing she could throw a decent right hook.

Getting out of the water was a little more difficult than getting in had been with Rey'sik and his friends refusing to step away from the edge of the bank. I tried to get out first, but with the three of them flanking me, it wasn't as easy as I'd hoped, and any idea of honor I thought the little coward could muster disappeared the second his friends separated me from Ava. They weren't as big as me but bigger than her, and even though I wanted to diffuse the situation right then, his two friends pushed me a good five or six meters from where Ava climbed out of the water. And he grabbed her and threw her to the ground less than a second later.

"Hey!" I yelled. "The least you can do is be fair!"

My pleas fell on deaf ears, but it gave Ava a few seconds to get to her feet, and when Rey'sik lunged at her, she ducked and rolled away, ending up on her hands and feet.

"_Oe ka neu ne tìsraw seyki nga,"_ Ava warned, keeping her hands up in front of her as she crouched to the forest floor.

Rey'sik laughed, glancing at his friends. "Do not worry," he said in English. "You will not."

He snarled then, lunging again, but Ava had apparently had enough time to prepare for his attack, grabbing him by the knife holster around his waist and tossing him over her head. She pulled her own knife out, sparing only a few seconds as he quickly recovered and stepped closer to her.

I'd never seen Ava fight with anyone but him, but after seeing her in the forest the day I'd found her, I knew someone had taught her to fight the way I'd fought with Tsu'tey. I couldn't think of anyone with that kind of training who'd been on base before me with knowledge of Ava's existence. Watching Ava anticipate all of Rey'sik's blows and block at least half of them made me wish I knew how she knew these things.

Since Ava was smaller than Rey'sik, she didn't need to same amount of space any of the other girls would have to get any leverage on her attacker, and he'd obviously expected it to be a short fight. Ava got off a few good punches before he was able to disarm her and throw her into a nearby tree. I tried to get to her, but I couldn't. I knew if I intervened things like this wouldn't stop. I knew if I stopped him myself it would just happen again, and the next time, I wouldn't even be with her.

He didn't give her time to recover, lunging at her again, but Ava seemed to have a few more tricks in her, allowing him to pick her up by her neck so that her legs were free and then kicking him in his gut and causing him to fall back to the ground with her on top of him. Her shins and knees knocked the wind out of him, and his friends tried to move in then, but I took two steps through them, shoving them back as Ava screamed in Rey'sik's face.

"Is that good enough for you?" she yelled, watching him struggle to breathe as she sat on top of him. "That's the second time I've embarrassed you in front of your friends! You wanna make it three? Leave me alone, you pathetic coward!"

I could see blood streaming from his nose the closer I got, and I waited until Ava got to her feet to look at him. But I didn't say anything to him, looking back at his friends and prompting them forward so they could get him off the ground. He looked like she'd broken a few ribs, and he had a few cuts over his arms. But the glare in his eyes told me he wasn't finished.

They left silently, and I waited until it was quiet again to look at Ava. In the several days since her first kill, the injuries she'd sustained had begun to heal, but even in the bioluminescence of the forest, I could see several new ones of her face and shoulders. And she looked like she'd had the wind knocked out of her as she stood there breathing hard. I didn't say anything to her, only touching her face in a few places and then taking her hand to pull her away from the waterfall so we could make it back to Hometree before it got too late.

The walk was quiet, and neither of us did anything to change that. She still looked angry about having to fight again, even if this time had been different from the last time. Tonight, she'd been defending herself and someone she probably considered as close to family as she was going to get. Tonight, she'd been defending me. And I didn't know how to talk after watching her do that. So we just walked. About halfway back, she reached for my hand again, and I looked at her, seeing a small grin on her face. I grinned too.

When we got back, the same three people who'd been there on the ground were still there, tending a small fire near the middle of the village, refilling light bladders and making leaf plates. None of them bothered us as we began our climb back up to where Ava's hammock was still undisturbed. I'd half expected some of her belongings to be ruined, but now that I thought of that, it would have meant waking the people around the hammock — namely Eyreal, and I was pretty sure Rey'sik was more frightened of her than he was of me.

She was asleep when we made it back on the branch above her hammock, and I silently lowered Ava back into her own hammock, waiting for her to get settled before I began to leave.

"Jake," Ava whispered. I looked at her. _"Si ke hum. 'I'awn,"_ she said softly, extending her hand to me.

I didn't even have to think about it, slowly lowering myself into the hammock like I'd done earlier. Ava held onto me the whole time, moving a little this way and that way until we were both laying comfortably inside her hammock facing each other. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her as close to me as I could while still giving her a little space, and even through her back, I could feel her heart racing. I didn't know if it was being near me or if she was still upset about her fight. Our legs tangled together along with our tails, and she eased both her arms around my shoulders to hold onto the back of my head and my neck near my queue like she had before. Chills slid down my back, causing me to tilt my head back, and she whispered again.

"Are you okay?"

I opened my eyes, looking into hers and laying my forehead over hers before I nodded again. I could feel her tail coil possessively around my waist since her hips were higher than mine, and my own tail responded automatically, wrapping itself around her thigh. She laughed softly, gently rubbing the back of my neck around the nerve ending of my queue, and I shook with chills again.

"Ava," I whispered, nudging the length of her nose with mine.

"Yes?"

"_Nga yawne lu oer."_

I realized then that I'd never really said that to Neytiri, even though I knew she'd always been well aware of how I felt for her. Thinking about it now, I don't think those words would have meant anymore to Neytiri than they would have to any other Na'vi since they were just words. But to Ava, they meant something. They meant she knew me and trusted me. They meant she was willing to put her life in my hands, and I knew I felt the same way about her. I couldn't believe I was really feeling this, but it was the only thing that felt real and true anymore. Being with Ava and being with my son were the only two things I really cared about anymore, and I never wanted that to change.

Without any kind of interruption, the instant I was close enough, feeling her soft breath over my lips, I kissed her the way I'd wanted to at the waterfall. I could tell she'd never kissed anyone, but she learned fast, kissing me back after just a few seconds and still rubbing the back of my neck around my queue. I didn't know if she realized what she was doing to me, but it felt like the most natural thing, even when she whispered again.

"Is it really okay if we do this here?" she asked, stroking her small, delicate hands down the length of my braid.

I didn't answer her, unintentionally silencing her with another kiss while my hands worked on their own, pulling her closer to me than she already was and pulling her braid over the front of her shoulder so I could see it. I didn't know if in her talking to Eyreal or any of the other girls in the village whether she'd been told about Na'vi mating practices. I could still remember all the times when it had been explained to me, or rather _not_ explained. I don't think Neytiri had mentioned the whole thing to me until _afterward_. I didn't know if what I was doing with Ava was the same thing. I wanted it to be the same thing.

I don't know what caused me to think about it, but I realized that dawn probably wasn't that far away, and Ava still needed her rest for the climb. I didn't want to stop, but it was more important for her to be ready in the morning. It was more important for her to bond with her _ikran_ before she took a mate. I didn't want to jumpstart her acceptance into the clan even if I'd already accepted her place with me.

Gently, I reached for her hands, pulling them from around my neck and folding them together between us. She opened her eyes, confused, and I sighed softly.

"You need your rest," I told her softly. "I — I shouldn't do this now. And I wouldn't forgive myself if I made it more difficult for you to focus tomorrow. So I won't leave you, but you need to sleep. Okay? Please."

I could see she was disappointed, but she laid her head against my chest all the same, relaxing as I held her hands in mine. I relaxed myself, thinking about what I could say to Mo'at that would allow me the chance to follow Ava and Tu'San on the climb the next day with the others he was taking with him. Surely, it wouldn't be too hard to convince her.

I fell asleep easily, holding Ava against me and feeling her hold onto me, and my dreams were filled with not only familiar feelings but also very strange sensations. I recognized the woods around me without thinking about where I was, finally standing in the forest in my avatar body but feeling different from how I felt now. Even though there was familiarity with the limbs, the eyes and the skin, I felt oddly outside myself, like it was the middle of the day, and I only had another seven or eight hours before I would have to leave.

"_You are not concentrating."_

Neytiri's voice aligned me with where I was, and I looked at her to see an annoyed look on her face like the one she'd usually had while teaching me when I'd first come to her People.

"_If you wish to learn our ways, you must give this your complete attention."_

I sighed softly, and she turned me away from her to tie a blindfold around my head to cover my eyes. Okay, it wasn't cloth. It was a leaf, but immediately everything went black.

"Tìng mikyun," she whispered. "Omum ke'u. Tse'a ke'u."

The first thing I heard was her backing away from me. Bugs were buzzing. Leaves were rustling in the wind. Birds were calling loudly. Her feet crunching limbs almost two meters away.

"_Only when you see nothing will you see everything,"_ she called from another few meters away. _"Only when you know nothing will you know everything."_

I'd always hated it when she pulled _zen-Neytiri _crap, but after several minutes, I couldn't hear her at all. No footsteps. No limbs crunching under her feet. I moved forward tentatively. The ground was wet from a recent rain, but the sun was shining, causing more bugs and birds to be out than normal. Limbs and leaves were crushed beneath my feet as I moved along the forest floor.

"Nga ke zene kivä," I heard, recognizing Neytiri's voice as she whispered, and I pulled the blindfold up to follow her voice unhindered.

"Oe tsun ke 'ì'awn," was the reply from a much younger female voice.

The voices got closer, and after a few seconds, I stepped out from behind a tree, seeing Neytiri in the distance with a much small Na'vi girl — at least, she looked Na'vi. Upon closer inspection, I realized that her hair wasn't as black as Neytiri's. Her stripes weren't as dark and her tail wasn't blue the way Neytiri's was. She was wearing a silver chain around her neck, and the dark green breast band around her chest reminded me of a white one I'd seen recently. A crimson one too.

Then Neytiri smiled, laying her hand over the younger girl's shoulder and speaking in English. _"You have grown,"_ she said proudly._ "Your mother would have been proud. As am I,_ _Ava_ Amelia'ite."

My feet betrayed me, alerting both of them to my presence as I inadvertently stepped on a rather noisy branch that crunched easy enough for me to hiss softly. When I looked up again, Ava was gone. But I'd seen enough, especially when I saw Neytiri coming closer to me from several meters away.

"_Even for_ olo'eyktan, _you still make too much noise. Clearly, I have not taught you well enough. We will work on this again later."_

She took my arms then, pushing me off away from where she'd been standing. _"Come,"_ she snapped. _"It is time to go back."_

"_Who were you talking to?"_ I asked obliviously.

"_Some questions are not for you to ask,"_ she said harshly.

* * *

Two small, five-fingered hands grasping onto my shoulders woke me with a shake, and I opened my eyes to see Thomas above me as I still laid in Ava's hammock. I realized quickly that she wasn't there, and when Thomas spoke, I was pretty sure I knew why.

"_Iknimaya_ is today," he said as soon as my eyes were open. "Hunters have already left to eat. _Ma tsahik_ asked me to wake you. It is still very early. _Ma sempul_, we will miss break-fast if you do not come soon."

Carefully, I sat up inside the hammock, seeing the sun just peaking over the horizon, and I made a mental note of how early I'd left for my climb over ten years earlier.

"Is Tu'San still here?" I asked Thomas, helping him out of the hammock and following him to climb down to where everyone else was gathering to eat.

"Yes," he said simply.

While Thomas got us something to eat, I found Tu'San and the five others with him at the edge of the village. Ava was with him. So were Rey'sik and Eyreal. They all saw me coming closer, and in the soft light of dawn, I could now see the damage Ava and Rey'sik had done to each other. His chest had two deep bruises covering his torso from his shoulders to just under his ribs where she'd landed on top of him, and her back was also bruised to the point that my own blood wanted to boil right there. But they both looked ready. Mind over matter.

"'_Ewan'aw_ worried you would miss departure from village," Eyreal said to me softly as I arrived at her side. "Tu'San is very upset with her injury. He worried she will not be strong enough to bond with _ikran_. I convince him her injury not as severe as appear. Rey'sik challenge her again, yes?"

I bowed my head, feeling my face heat up slowly. "After we left the village," I said quietly, "he followed us, and he wouldn't leave. Why is he going if he's the one instigating all of this?"

I could see Eyreal didn't understand anymore than I did, but she glanced at Tu'San before speaking again.

"His cousin take you," she told me, reminding of exactly _who_ his cousin was. "He work for this much longer than she has, and behavior does not prohibit opportunity to request passage. I . . . do not . . . understand reasoning. But not my place to question traditions. He ask to go. He go."

I sighed, irritated, nodding to her and then moving to Ava's side as she waited with the other two going with Tu'San and Eyreal.

She smiled slightly when she saw me, and I glanced at Rey'sik before she spoke.

"I was afraid you were going to sleep all morning," she said quietly, reaching for my hands to hold them in hers.

I tried to hide the chills that slid up and then down my back, but her smile faded, and she started to pull away. I stopped her. "Ava," I said softly. "Listen to me. Today is a very important day for you. From the moment you leave the village, every step you take today will be a test. I can't ride up there with you. I'm not allowed to go, but I'm going to ask Mo'at if I can meet you up there. I don't see why she wouldn't let me go, but you need to do this yourself. Whatever pain or anger you have, you need to let it go. Up there, it's on you. And I can't distract you. But if I can, I'll meet you there. Okay?"

She nodded. "Okay."

I thought about leaving it there so she could just focus on the day ahead of her, but I could see a hint of disappointment in her eyes, and I knew she was thinking about the night before. I pulled her as close to me as I could, leaning over until I could set my forehead against hers and whispering softly. _"Lu kxuke."_

She inhaled as deep as she could, and I saw her grin again before I leaned away and then stepped back to see two hunters pulling _pa'li_ toward the edge of the village.

I separated myself from the main group, watching Ava mount her own horse while the others with her did as well. I caught Rey'sik's eyes, and for a few seconds, all I did was stare. I knew Ava could take care of herself, but if he did something to mess this up for her, I knew there was no limit to how hard or how fast I was gonna make him live to regret it.

Once they were gone, I walked back to the center of the village where everyone was still eating. There was an _ikran_ in the tree with my name on it, and I had a _tsahik_ to bargain with before too much time passed.

* * *

**Anyone else but me think it's irritating when the bullies are the ones who get ahead in the world when the ones who play fair - or try to - are the ones who get passed over for something they've earned? Not really sure where the idea of Rey'sik came from. I'm not really sure I even want to claim him, but oh, well, I guess he's mine whether I like him or not.**

**Also, a note on Jake's dream. There's a moment in there where it shifts in time from when he's still learning to after he's already been leading the Clan for a little while. And yes, this means that Neytiri knew about Ava, but don't try to figure out how. I'm working it out in my head right now, and it'll all become clear enough soon. I hope.**

**Anyway, on with the definitions!**

**_Kelku si Soaia _- Home and Family**

**_Iknimaya - _Rite of Passage for Na'vi hunters**

**_nivi - _hammock**

**_chey - _personal belongings rack, to hang all those gifts you don't know what to do with!**

**_Pay (pie) -_ Water, liquid - pronounced like the word pie since it ends -ay**

**_pa'li - _horses the size of elephants (at least to us Sky People)**

_**Nìn fì'u -**_** Look at this. (An approximation. I'm still not sure about that translator, but for now, until I can sit down and learn for real, it stays)**

_**Olo'eyktan tìmuntxa hu vrrtep**_ - **Clan leader mating with demon. (See above. And I _really_ don't like Rey'sik, but what can I do?)**

**_vrrtep - _demon**

_**Oe ka neu ne tìsraw seyki nga**_ - **I don't want to hurt you. (I heard Zoe Saldana say this in The Losers, and I absolutely loved it. She's badass.)**

**_Si ke hum - _Do not depart. (I tried to make her say 'Don't leave,' but there are many variations. And I'm still a beginner)**

**_'I'awn - _Stay.**

**_Nga yawne lu oer - _I love you. (Loosely. It actually means, 'You are beloved to me.' It's kinda sweet.)**

**_Ikran -_ We should all know what this one is.**

_**Tìng mikyun**_ -** Listen. (Lit. 'Give ear.')**

**_Omum ke'u - _Know nothing. (Interesting if you think about Neytiri saying that to Jake, even in a teacher/student capacity)**

**_Tse'a ke'u - _See nothing. (These few phrases aren't in italics because they're in his dream, and since all the English is in Italics, it seemed like the right thing to do)**

_**Nga ke zene kivä -**_** You don't have to go.**

_**Oe tsun ke 'ì'awn**_ - **I can not stay.**

**_Ava Amelia'ite - _Ava, daughter of Amelia**

**_Olo'eyktan - _Clan leader (This is Jake, for anyone who isn't sure ;-) )**

**_Ma tsahik - _This is Mo'at's place, with Neytiri not there.**

**_Ma sempul - _Father**

**_'Ewan'aw - _Young one (Yes, I know, this isn't the proper word for it, but I can't seem to figure it out in a simple way. Any hints would be appreciated)**

**_Lu kxuke - _Be safe. (Did you know there are more variations of this word that I honestly don't know what to do with?)**

**

* * *

**

**Okay! Whew! Lots of definitions! I think I might be going a bit over board, but I can't seem to stop myself.**

**Also, like I said, I knocked this one out really fast and wanted to share it with you all.**

**Already working on the next one! Until then, _Kìyevame ulte Eywa ngahu_**_**!**_


	20. Flight Test

**A little longer chapter this time, and kinda an exciting one, I think. I really enjoyed writing this one, even if it did take a little while to get right. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**I'd continue to ramble on about a few things that need to be paid attention to, but if you've been reading this long, those things should already kinda stand out, so without further ado, Read on!**

**Enjoy!  
**

* * *

_**Flight Test**_

It wasn't hard to convince Mo'at to let me leave the village, especially with how distracted I'd been the last several days waiting for this. She did however make me explain myself to the group of elder clan members I'd been meant to counsel with that day about trade agreements with two of the other local clans. Trying to explain to them how I wanted to fly off to meet the hunters climbing to the rookery in the Thundering Rocks wasn't an easy or enjoyable task, but it wasn't just that I wanted to go. I felt like I _had_ to go. And it wasn't that I didn't trust Ava's ability to bond with her _ikran_. I wanted to watch her prove Rey'sik wrong.

My own _ikran_ was waiting for me in the nest above the main branches of Hometree, and I fed him a small piece of _talioang_ meat before taking off from the tree tops. I could feel that he was happy to stretch his wings for the first time in weeks, and I was happy for him. I silently hoped that after today, we'd be able to go out more often — especially when Ava succeeded in her bonding. More than anything, I hoped for that.

As Ava's name and the idea of her flying with me crossed my mind, I was reminded of how long it had been since I'd done that with Neytiri. More than six months had passed, and I couldn't honestly believe I'd survived that long without her. Apparently, neither could my ride. The instant Neytiri's face flashed through my mind, Zawng screeched loudly.

"Easy, boy," I said softly, soothing him. "I miss her too. How 'bout some light hunting before we get too far out? My treat."

He seemed to like that idea, and with one last thought about my mate, I urged him toward the river when I was sure a herd of _yerik_ would be grazing.

* * *

I only vaguely remembered how long it had taken me to make the climb when I'd gone with Tsu'tey and when Neytiri had met us all up there. It had been ten years since then, but I knew now how much more difficult the climb would be since our Hometree now was further from the mountains than the previous one had been. But the destination was almost always the same — even after a majority of the _ikran_ population had participated in the war. Ten years had passed, and we'd sent up more hunters since that day. Almost all of them had come back.

I was suddenly thinking about a day five years earlier when the first real tragedy had occurred in the clan after the war when Tu'San had come to the village in the middle of the day carrying the dead body of a young boy who'd gone up into the mountains to bond with his own _ikran_. Instead he'd been killed by the very beast he'd sought to tame.

Since I hadn't been there when it happened, I could only go by what the other successful hunters told me. And based on their accounts, Tu'San had pushed the boy too hard and caused him to get thrown into the rock face surrounding the rookery. And even though he never said a word to me, I could see the shame in his eyes for being so careless with the boy's life.

I hadn't even known the boy's name when they brought his body back to the village. His mother, a woman who was just as distinguished as Mo'at but only a few years older than Neytiri, had been the one to tell me. Angol had been her youngest son and bore his grandfather's name. It had been my and Neytiri's responsibility to honor the boy's life, and I could still remember the ordeal being something I'd never done before and never wanted to do again. Thinking about it as I flew my own _ikran_ to the mountains, I could only remember one thing about him. He'd only been 16 — the same age as Ava.

Of course, I had to remind myself that Ava was almost 17. By the dates I'd been seeing on the reading pads Norm had given me with her mother's logs on them, the date stamp told me it was almost July. I knew her birthdate was July 28 — the same day I'd left Earth to come to Pandora. But what I also had to remember was the fact that Ava was almost a meter shorter than the others going to the rookery. I knew she was strong, but I was worried. I tried to clear all the worry away, hoping it would be gone by the time I got to the rookery.

The flight gave me time to think of how Tu'San would handle this climb in regards to Ava's place as his student. Neytiri hadn't been allowed to come with me because it had been Tsu'tey's responsibility, but I knew now that it simply hadn't been her place to accompany me. I wondered if she'd defied all that was expected of her to make sure I'd succeeded. I wondered if she'd asked for permission to meet me in the mountains that day. I wish I could have seen Mo'at's face.

After appeasing the appetite of my own _ikran_, we began our flight into the mountains, gauging how much time it would take and deciding to take a bit of a short cut so I could find the party on their way up. Zawng seemed to enjoy the flight, and I did too, reveling in the way it felt to have cool, crisp air hitting my face and making my eyes water.

As soon as I had the party spotted, I doubled back, catching a glimpse of Tu'San as he led them higher into the mountains toward _Mons Veritatis_ where the rookery was located. I saw Eyreal as she hurried behind him with her bow in hand. And then behind Eyreal, I saw Ava trotting along with her bow as well. I was relieved for the first time, knowing she'd survived this far and had promise to survive the rest of the way.

I tried not to make my presence known before they emerged from the grotto that faced the rest of the mountain range, but as soon as I saw them, I went in for my landing. This one was much better than any landing I ever made on my feet. And no one laughed at me, although I could see a small smile on Ava's face, and I could tell she was glad I was there.

As soon as I dismounted Zawng, Tu'San stepped in front of me, nodding silently before he turned to the three young hunters he'd brought with him — Ava, Rey'sik and Taw'biht, whom I only knew because he _wasn't_ one of Rey'sik's friends. They were all winded, and rightfully so, since they'd had to climb a long way to get here. I could still remember how Tsu'tey had picked me to go before the other two I'd climbed with just to see if I could do what I was there to do. I wondered if Tu'San would chose Ava to go first, but he didn't. Instead, he chose Taw'biht since he was the oldest.

The young hunter led the way out onto the ledge, and Tu'San followed him along with Rey'sik. Ava followed slowly with Eyreal, and I trailed the group slowly even as Eyreal whispered to me.

"_Ma tsahik_ allow you to come as I said she would," Eyreal said softly. "This pleases me. It also pleases Ava."

"Yeah, well, there was no way I was gonna miss this," I whispered back, watching Taw'biht step out onto the rookery where several dozen _ikran_ were currently nesting. "She did okay on the way up here, right?"

"She did very well," Eyreal admitted. "Much better than Rey'sik. He almost fall three times. Tu'San warn him, but it no help. I almost worry he mess up today, but he too stubborn to fail this far into journey."

I huffed softly. "Yeah, that _would_ be too easy on his part."

I looked ahead, seeing Taw'biht swinging his bola made from the razor palm all potential hunters used to make their banshee catchers. I could still remember making mine and how Neytiri had shown me how to use it in the time before my own climb. Watching Taw'biht swing his bola and attract the attention of a nearby _ikran_ that promptly screeched at him with fierce yellow eyes made me remember the mess I'd made the day I'd come here to do what he was doing. Of course it had all turned out okay, but still.

Tu'San encouraged Taw'biht a little more enthusiastically than I would have, but when the boy tossed his bola and managed to capture his selected _ikran_, it looked like it was working. In just a few short seconds, I watched the young hunter subdue his _ikran_ and pull the neural whip of the beast within a few centimeters of his own to make _tsaheylu_ for the first time. It was over in less than a minute, and I silently wondered if it had taken me that long — or longer by Neytiri's accounts.

When Tu'San urged Taw'biht to the edge of the cliff face, I couldn't hide the worry that crossed my face as the young hunter took to the sky to solidify his bond with the beast he'd tamed. But when Tu'San turned back to where I was standing with Eyreal and Ava, I knew it was time for her to follow suit.

"Avamelia will go next," he announced, and it took every ounce of control I had not to react when Rey'sik broke into a wide, menacing smile.

Eyreal must have sensed my anger, placing her hand over my shoulder. "Have faith, Jakesully," she whispered. "I practice with her for several days. We also took into account of her audience," she said gesturing to Rey'sik as he watched. "She is ready. Trust this."

I lowered my gaze to Ava's as she lifted her eyes to mine, and even though I wanted to tell her she would do good, I realized she already knew I wanted to say it. I'd only known her for six months, but it was like I'd always been meant to have her in my life to do this. And I did trust her.

So with little else, Eyreal took Ava by the shoulders and urged her further out into the rookery where the nest was getting restless. "_Zerok. Rikx nìwin. Lu seykxel._"

Ava never looked at me, and I did my best not to distract her, moving out of the way as she edged out into the rookery with her own bola in hand. Almost immediately, three _ikran_ flew away from the cliff, and Ava moved further in toward the others. I wished more than anything to know what she was thinking or feeling or both, but I could only watch. Listening to Eyreal encourage her softly made me think of Neytiri and how it had actually helped me complete my task. I hoped it did the same for Ava.

It took Ava half a minute to spot her own _ikran_ as it spotted her and screeched in her direction indignantly. I reminded myself that these beasts were just as smart as we were, if not smarter, and the idea of being bonded to a rider must have been like asking it to bow down to a inferior creature. I knew Eyreal and probably Tu'San had explained this to Ava, but I still felt my heart in my throat as she began to swing her bola to catch her _ikran_.

Almost like it was a knee-jerk reaction, Ava snapped the bola around the beast's snout, effectively closing its mouth — and its teeth — from being able to bite her as she flew onto its back the way Eyreal had probably shown her. And for a few seconds, it looked like she had everything under control. But then everything started to go wrong, especially when the beast tossed Ava around like she was a rag doll.

She was able to hold onto one of its neural whips, her legs crashing into the rocks as she struggled to get back onto its back, and I felt my feet move before I was stopped by two firm, four-fingered hands.

"Wait," Eyreal whispered. "She know what she does."

I watched helplessly as the seconds ticked by, wanting more desperately to help than I thought possible. "She's too small," I hissed. "She'll get hurt."

Just as those words left my mouth, Ava surprised me, managing to toss the beast in her hands onto its side as she grabbed the neural whip in her hand to connect it with her own. Suddenly, the beast stopped moving, immediately appeased through the link with Ava. Eyreal moved first, and Tu'San followed.

"He is a good choice," Tu'San appraised, helping Ava sit up straight and allowing her to take the other whip for balance. "Follow Taw'biht," he instructed, motioning to the sky and telling Ava all she needed to do as her _ikran _took off without any warning.

I couldn't hide my surprise or my pride as I watched her fly away, and I also didn't miss the look of disdain and anger that crossed Rey'sik's face. I didn't hide the face I made at him, thinking mentally of the only Human phrase that fit the situation. "Well, I guess she showed you," I remarked.

He only glared at me.

Eyreal moved to my side, nudging me away from where Tu'San was now preparing his last hunter for his task.

"I knew she would do it," she whispered to me. "You go. I see you in village."

I didn't need anymore encouragement, getting back to the grotto where Zawng was waiting for me impatiently. I mounted him easily, leaving the cliff face and flying into the horizon to find Ava. She wasn't that hard to miss, especially with the blue-and-purple speckled wings fluttering around her as she navigated the floating rocks around her.

I called out to her, warranting only a split second of her attention even if it was enough for me to come in beside her. She was smiling, pretty much the same way I had on my first flight.

"This is amazing!" she cried happily. "You've been holding out on me, Jake Sully!"

I laughed, urging Zawng closer to her. "I knew you could do it," I laughed. Despite my fears, she'd done so well that I couldn't deny her the happiness she deserved. "What happened to the girl thing?" I shouted, remembering that Tu'San had called her _ikran_ a 'he.'

"Rea said it didn't matter! I knew it the instant I saw him! I think I'm going to name him after you! He's just as stubborn as you are!"

"Yeah, he's handsome too!"

She laughed at that, looking ahead to guide her _ikran_ through the floating rocks.

It took the two of us only a few more minutes to get in synch with each other around the rocks, doubling back to check on Tu'San where he was supposed to be watching Rey'sik finish the day without any mishap.

I watched Ava the whole way, still on edge but only because we were still far up in the mountains and would have to get back to Hometree before the sun started to go down. She'd never looked so at ease as she did flying through the rocks back toward the rookery. I wondered if I'd looked like that during my first flight. What I wouldn't have given for a mirror so I'd stop asking myself all these stupid questions. I reminded myself that the only important thing was Ava's success. And I couldn't remember the last time I'd been this proud.

Ava and I barely had enough time to get back to the rookery to see Rey'sik succeed in taming his _ikran_ and fly off the cliff face before half a minute could pass, but unlike Taw'biht, whom we still had not spotted since he'd taken off, and Ava, Rey'sik was bleeding from his arm and shoulder. It didn't look like he'd been bitten, but rather fallen against the rocks and been knocked around by the beast beneath his body. I had a bad feeling about that, especially the closer we got, seeing that he was losing blood and in effect consciousness. I didn't know if Tu'San or Eyreal could see, but before I could even think to call out to them, Rey'sik lost his grip on both neural whips of his _ikran_ and tumbled off the side into open air. And Ava was closer to him than I was, seeming to know what she had to do and proceeding without anyone encouraging her.

I watched silently as she swooped down toward Rey'sik, flying like she'd been doing it for a lot longer than the minutes since she'd taken to the sky herself. The _ikran_, having only been tamed but not fully bonded to its rider didn't seem to know what to do, so while Ava dove faster toward her fallen hunter, I tried to catch the flying beast as it searched for its rider. It seemed like the easier task, even when I again turned my attention toward Ava to see her catch an unconscious Rey'sik one-handed without losing her grip on the neural whip connecting her to her _ikran_.

The weight pulled her and her ride further toward the deep canyon of rocks, and I watched helplessly as she struggled to pull Rey'sik onto the back of her _ikran_. It didn't look like it was going to work, especially when her feet slipped from the front rests and caused her to wrap her legs around her _ikran_'s neck. I heard her scream from where I was, and I knew there was nothing I could do as I held Rey'sik's _ikran_ at a safe distance. With what seemed like a force of sheer will, Ava was able to pull Rey'sik closer to her, and her _ikran_ moved easily to catch him on its back.

Time began to speed up again as she regained her footing, keeping an arm around her _ikran_'s neck and a firm hand on Rey'sik's body before she turned quickly to return to where I was gliding with the rider-less _ikran_. It had since stopped struggling, and I followed Ava back to the rock face where Eyreal and Tu'San were waiting.

We all landed together, and Tu'San rushed forward to survey the damage done to Rey'sik's body. I realized then that he was semi-conscious and fully aware of the fact that Ava had saved his life. But he didn't look angry. More annoyed than anything else, he couldn't stop muttering, "She saved me!"

Taw'biht returned to the rock face after no one had followed him in his flight, and when he saw what had happened, he was just as confused as the rest of us were.

"Why save him?" he exclaimed, his accent heavy around his English. "He be awful to her many times!"

None of us had any answers for him, not even me, watching Ava hover over Rey'sik as Tu'San used what supplies we had to wrap the hunter's fresh wounds. We'd since moved back to the grotto where it was safe, and Rey'sik had regained most of his bearings back.

It took a few more minutes for Tu'San to finish the wrappings, but as soon as it was done, he and Ava helped Rey'sik to his feet. He faced Ava with a blank expression, speaking plain English to her.

"You could have let me fall," he said softly, stating only the facts. "I have been hateful to you."

"Yes," she agreed. "You have."

"Why did you save me?"

I knew the answer to his question, and I was pretty sure Tu'San and Eyreal did too, so it didn't surprise me when Ava answered him.

"Because it was the right thing to do," she said obviously.

She didn't say anything else, glancing at me and the others before she moved back to her _ikran_ to leave.

Tu'San assisted Rey'sik getting back onto his _ikran_ as it had amazingly remained in the area without its rider to tell it what to do. I'd never seen one do that before, but when Rey'sik reestablished his connection and took to the sky again, it was clear he had much better control now than he had the first time. Taw'biht followed, leaving me and Ava on the cliff face of the grotto with Tu'San and Eyreal.

"You two want a lift back to the _pa'li_?" I offered, moving to where Zawng was waiting for me.

It only took them a few seconds to agree, and while Eyreal moved closer to me, Tu'San mounted Ava's _ikran_ with her so we could all take off carefully. Mostly, _ikran_ only carried one person — their rider, and in the time it took us to return to the solid ground where a lone hunter was keeping the horses at bay, the two _ikran_ we were riding showed us their annoyance with the extra weight.

The hunter waiting looked shocked to see us, but I couldn't tell if that was because we were returning Tu'San and Eyreal to the ground or because Ava was riding her own _ikran_ to help accomplish it. Other than a few stunned looks, nothing was said, and it was silently agreed that we would all meet back at the village before night fell. That gave me and Ava the whole afternoon to get reacquainted with our rides before the feast that would be held the next night in her and her fellow hunters' honor for successfully completing _iknimaya_.

Ava was able to find Taw'biht and Rey'sik as they soared through the sky around the mountains, and together, we flew toward the village even as we spied on several herds of _talioang _in the areas around Hometree. Immediately I was thinking about the next few weeks when we would be able to hunt for the village, and I was instantly thrilled about the idea of watching Ava hunt from the back of her own _ikran_.

I also thought about Norm as we made our way back to Hometree, even though I hadn't really spoken to him in six months. For whatever reason I wasn't sure of, I wanted him to have a part in Ava's celebration, and if I was as proud of her now as I was, then I knew he would be even more proud of the fact that she'd succeed. And I knew as soon as we landed and the preparations started, I would be calling him on the comm unit he'd left behind. I also discovered that I wanted him there just as much as I knew he would want to be there.

The four of us landed in the topmost branches of Hometree as the exuberant cries of joy and relief reached our ears, and while Rey'sik made his way down to the village to greet his family, Taw'biht walked with me and Ava, smiling and congratulating her.

"You make good choice for _ikran_," he chuckled. "I admit I among those who not believe you _flä_ — succeed. But you prove me wrong today. _Ngaytxoa_."

Ava lifted her hand to his shoulder. "No apologies needed, Taw'biht," she grinned. "Perhaps we'll be able to hunt together when the time comes. Perhaps we could call each other _'eylan_ instead of _kxutu_."

He smiled wider. "I would like that," he agreed, lifting his eyes to mine before he moved forward on his own.

We watched him ease down the branches where everyone else was now cheering with our arrival, and Ava spoke softly as we followed him.

"He's not too bad, is he?" she asked, lifting her eyes to mine. "For a friend."

I looked on at Taw'biht, thinking of how much taller than her he was and how he smiled a lot when he was around her. I felt a pang of jealousy as I watched him glance back at her. Ava must have seen the look in my eye, laughing softly as she spoke again.

"Relax, Jake," she said to me. "You'll get wrinkles if you keep worrying like this. Haven't you learned that yet?"

I felt myself chuckle, spotting Thomas and his friends as they made their way into the tree toward us. "I guess not," I admitted.

"_Ma sempul!_" Thomas exclaimed, running toward me and nearly knocking me over as he slammed into me. "You have returned!"

I held him close to me. "I'm back," I nodded. "And what did you do all day? Stay out of trouble for me?"

"I tried," he admitted. "Did Ava succeed? Does she return with her own _ikran_?"

I smiled and looked at her. "She does. Just as I knew and hoped she would. And now we all get to celebrate her success. Along with the others, but Ava did something amazing up there. She saved a life — one which I don't think anyone ever expected her to save."

Thomas immediately took Ava's hand. "We must tell _ma tsahik_!" he exclaimed. "Doing such a thing requires special attention for you in the ceremony!"

Though Ava tried to stop him, she could see he wouldn't be easily deterred, glancing over her shoulder at me and smiling as I urged her on. I was happy to see Thomas so happy, especially with how upset he'd been when Ava had first arrived in the village. But then it didn't strike me as being odd. I realized watching them run away from me that he'd probably been the first member of the clan other than me and Eyreal to accept Ava the way she was.

I stopped by the alcove Thomas and I shared, pulling the comm unit from the shadows and pushing the few buttons I knew would initialize the transmitter. I strapped the throat piece, speaking softly as I sat inside the alcove alone.

"Norm, you there?"

A few seconds passed as the unit crackled, and an unfamiliar voice responded to me. "Who is this?" it demanded.

"It's Jake," I said incredulously. "Who are you?"

"Alejandro Montoya," the voice said proudly. "But most people call me Alex. Norm is outside," he informed me, and I finally detected a slight Spanish accent in his voice.

"Do you think you could get him for me?" I asked, surprised by the hostility in his voice. "Tell him it's about Ava."

There was silence for a minute, and then he spoke again. "One moment," he grunted, followed by silence again.

When Norm's voice came through the comm, he sounded like his normal, happy self. "Hey, Jake. What's going on? Alex said it was about Ava. Is she okay?"

"She's great," I gushed. "Norm, she did it. She tamed a banshee today. I couldn't believe it, but she did it. And that isn't all. She saved a life today too. They're preparing for the celebration now."

"That's amazing, Jake," he exclaimed. "And she only took three months longer than you did. Was she safe?"

"I was with her the whole way," I told him, meaning to keep him positive since I hadn't told him about Ava's fights in the few times I'd spoken to him. "She even impressed Mo'at. Listen, I was calling you because I want you to come to the celebration tomorrow night. We'll be honoring her and the two others who went with her, and I think she'd like having you here."

Norm laughed. "Of course I'll be there! I wouldn't miss it for the world. Me and Max'll get the Samson ready for my flight tonight, and I can come out tomorrow to help with the preparations. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great. Just call before you leave so we can meet you in the clearing."

"It's a date," Norm chuckled. "Hey, I'm actually glad you called because we need to talk about something a little more official — not that Ava's success hasn't trumped it at all. But it's serious, and I think you guys need to know this."

"What is it?" I asked, silently wondering what he wanted to tell me and fearing it was the call I'd been waiting for.

"I think you know what it is," he offered, little more than dread coming across in his voice. "But I'll wait until I get there to give you any specifics. Okay? You just enjoy the next day with everyone out there. This can wait. Trust me."

I breathed deep, accepting what he'd said and agreeing with him. "Right. See you tomorrow."

"Absolutely," he chuckled before I turned off the comm unit and sat on a stump inside the alcove to think.

For the few minutes I had alone, I allowed myself to think about how long it had been since the base had been evacuated. Almost eleven years had passed since they'd left, and I'd known they would return. It didn't matter that I'd kept the possibility in the back of my mind most of the time. I didn't want to dwell on what was inevitable, rising from the alcove and making my way down to where everyone else was waiting.

Though the atmosphere was much lighter now that three more hunters had succeeded with their completion of _iknimaya_, there was also a more somber feeling as the three newest hunters all became the center of attention of the Clan — even Ava had an audience, though hers consisted of more girls than boys. It had been almost three months since a climb into the mountains had been made, and while those hunters had already completed their Dream Hunt and Mating, these three — Ava, Taw'biht and Rey'sik — were on the young side, so I wasn't expecting any of them to request their Dream Hunt any time soon. Or maybe I was telling myself that so it would be harder to think about Ava choosing either of them as her mate.

I saw Ava and Thomas inside one cluster of girls and women which included Mo'at as they all listened to Ava tell her story. Thomas was absolutely marveled by the idea that Ava had saved Rey'sik's life, and I could tell everyone else was as well. From across the spot where Ava and Thomas had settled, I could see Rey'sik surrounded by a small group of his friends, and I could see by his expression and the fact that he kept looking back at Ava that he was still just as stunned. But he didn't deny it. He couldn't. There had been witnesses to the whole thing — me being one of them.

I also noticed Taw'biht keeping an eye on Ava from the larger group of people surrounding him. I'd really only been watching him the last several days since he'd been one of Tu'San's candidates to make _iknimaya_, and he seemed like a nice kid. At that thought I also had to remind myself that Ava was his age. And it made me feel just a little more than strange about wanting her to choose me as her mate the way I wanted to choose her as mine. If we'd been Human, that would have been wrong in the eyes of just about everyone. She was barely grown. But I couldn't deny the way I felt, and in the eyes of most of the Clan, someone her age was considered an adult.

It was my place to acknowledge all the new hunters' achievements, and I was also supposed to remain unbiased in my actions, but I was drawn to Ava, making my way to where she was.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything important," I said announcing myself even as I moved to sit a few spaces away from Ava. Thomas moved to my side.

"We were just getting to the good part," he said to me. "When Ava saw Rey'sik fall from his _ikran_. Was he really bleeding?" he asked astonished.

I nodded. "He was," I confirmed, glancing at Ava as she spoke softly to everyone else. Her eyes found mine, but nothing was said. Nothing really needed to be said.

* * *

Night fell just as it always did without any notice or event to mark it, but this night was a little different from the ones that had followed. Preparations had already begun and would continue through the night and the next day, but for now, most of the Clan was content to find themselves ready for sleep. I had to admit, after the eventful day, I was ready for sleep too, especially now that Ava could start sleeping with me and Thomas again. On our way up to the alcove, I made a point of letting Thomas go ahead of us, speaking to Ava softly as we walked.

"I talked to Eyreal, and she agreed it was okay for you to stay with us again," I assured Ava. "I also wanted to give you something for your _chey_. I know you'll be needing your own set of goggles, and normally, either Tu'San or Eyreal would make a pair for you to fly with. But I couldn't help think that I hadn't given anything to you the way they have, so I wanted you to have something only I can give you."

She smiled, grasping onto my hand and arm. "You don't have to give me anything, Jake," she insisted. "Being here is enough."

I squeezed her hand. "Still," I said with a chuckle. "They're makin' me look bad, so I figured it was time. It's not something I made or _had_ made, but it is something I want you have. It's something I think you've earned, and I think you'll like it."

She laughed softly. "Okay."

We finally made it to the alcove where Thomas was already putting his own belongings away. When Ava saw her _chey_ next to mine, I couldn't help but think of Neytiri when I looked at her, but in a good way now that I'd remembered something else about her. Ava smiled at me, moving toward her _chey_ and easing her fingers over everything hanging from it until she came to the newest item I'd left there earlier so she could find it here.

Seeing her touch them and then lift them to look at them more closely made me remember how I'd felt when I'd done the same thing — when I'd found Neytiri after she'd died. Thinking about that day still made me feel guilty about the moment I'd been distracted and lost sight of her over the forest. But with Tu'San and Eyreal leading the search party, it hadn't been too hard to find her. I could still remember finding her riding goggles on the ground less than half a kilometer from her body. It was one of the few things I'd kept with me before we'd buried her.

Ava stepped closer to me holding Neytiri's goggles, knowing who they'd belonged to but realizing why I was giving them to her.

"She knew your mother, Ava," I said softly. "I'm sure of it now. And after what happened to your mother, after what happened to her, I know they're both in the same place now. At least I hope they are. And I think she would want you to have these. They'll serve you better on than they will hanging around here with the rest of her things, and I know she helped you," I revealed, and she looked at me.

But I didn't say anything else, watching her grasp onto the goggles like they were the most precious thing anyone had ever given her. I knew then that I wasn't doing this so that I would see Neytiri every time I looked at Ava when we were out flying. I was doing it so the same thing that had happened to Neytiri wouldn't happen to Ava, especially now that I was sure I wasn't going to let her out of my sight ever again.

Ava lifted her fingers to my cheek, and I bowed my head, leaning closer to her so she wouldn't have to crane her neck too much and then kissing her for the first time in a day. I couldn't believe I'd been so scared about her choosing to be with anyone else, even if the thought was still nagging in the back of my head — especially since I knew of at least two people who would want her to choose them. But standing there with Ava in my arms felt more right than anything had since I'd found her in the forest. Kissing her felt natural, and even though she was so much smaller than me, it felt normal. And I felt absolutely no shame in the way I held her or touched her, even though I knew she wasn't really ready for the whole "mated for life" just yet. For now, having her with me was enough.

Thomas was already asleep when I pulled Ava onto our mat, and I could tell she was exhausted from the climb even though she already gotten a pretty big payoff for her sacrifice. I was pretty tired too, laying down with her and allowing her as close to me as she wanted even though I allowed her as much space as she needed. It seemed like she didn't want to let go of me, keeping her hands over my chest and even tracing the lines of the _tanhì_ over my skin. I didn't stop her. I wanted to do the same thing to her, but I figured I'd wait for her to say it was okay.

My dreams that night weren't strange the way they had been the last several months, even though I found myself in strange surroundings. I was still in my human body, something I knew was still impossible, but at this point I'd accepted it as a sign I simply wasn't interpreting properly. I didn't know if I ever would, but the important thing was that I wasn't fighting it anymore.

I hadn't been back to base in six months, but at that visit, I'd only entered one room, and I hadn't strayed too far from there. As far as the rest of the base, I hadn't been there in a good ten years. I hadn't been in the Ops Center since the last day I'd reported to Quaritch before leaving for the mountains. But this time, the whole deck was vacant of people except me. I wasn't sure what I was doing there, but a stray alarm on a heads-up display caught my attention, and as I moved closer to see it, I automatically knew what it meant.

"_They're on their way now, aren't they?"_ I heard and turned to see a familiar face. Amy. I knew would recognize her face anywhere now.

"_We can't stop them,"_ I told her. _"We don't even know how many are coming. And we don't know what they want."_

"_Maybe they'll leave if we don't have it."_

She was next to me a minute later, looking at the display with me. I could smell her as the air carried her scent with her. Lavender and gardenia — two smells that I shouldn't have even been able to smell where I was.

"_Don't count on it,"_ I scoffed.

"_You know what else we can't stop?" _

"_Hmm?"_

She took my hand and laid it on her abdomen, and I lowered my eyes to her swollen belly. But I didn't say anything, feeling another piece of the puzzle fall into place.

* * *

"_How late was it when you two went to sleep?"_

I heard Norm's voice above me, unsure if I was still dreaming and desperately wanting my dream to be real. I wasn't sure why anymore. Then I felt Norm's finger pull my eyes open to shine a light in them. And I knew wasn't dreaming anymore.

"Jake," he called to my face. "Can you hear me?"

I moved his hand away, groaning as I sat up and laid my eyes on Ava and Thomas as they watched me. "I hear you," I huffed. "How long have you been here?"

"Just a few hours," he reported. "I called before I left the base, but you didn't answer. Lucky for you, Ava knew what to do with the comm unit, and a hunting party met me when I got here. How do you feel?"

I leaned over my legs then, still getting my bearings back as Ava eased closer to me and laid her hand over my back. It didn't matter how much time passed. I was never going to forget this feeling — no matter how much I wanted to. "Like I've been inside a coffin for however long I've been asleep. Like I'm waking up in my body after laying down in my link at six o'clock in the morning."

Norm sighed softly, pulling a scanner from his bag and using it on my head. I didn't know what he was seeing, and I honestly didn't care. I looked at Ava, and she took my hand before Norm spoke again.

"These are the same readings we had at the lab the last time I came out here to scan you," he told me. "Now I wish I'd looked at them closer, so I'd know what was going on with you. We need to talk about this, Jake. It's serious now."

"What's wrong with me?" I asked softly.

He looked at Ava and Thomas, silent for a minute before I looked at them and spoke softly. "Why don't you two go down for breakfast?" I told them. "Norm and I need to talk alone for a few minutes."

They both hesitated, but after a minute, they stood up together and left me and Norm by ourselves. As soon as they were gone, he spoke again.

"Your dreams haven't stopped, have they?" he asked me.

I shook my head, blushing helplessly.

"And it's worse now than it was the first time, isn't it?" he continued. "You're seeing things other than your brother, aren't you?"

I didn't want to admit it, but I nodded again, thinking of everything I'd seen so far.

"You know, I thought about calling you a lot the last few months," Norm said quietly. "But I knew you'd call me when you were ready."

"How is everything at the base?" I asked, attempting to make conversation. "And who's Alex? I don't remember him."

Norm smiled, putting away his scanner. "Oh, he's just getting used to his new post," he explained. "Don't take it personally. With the new, uh, development with the long-range sensors, we've have to shift a few people around, and I'm spending a lot of time in the new section of the lab. So he's keeping an eye on the Ops Center for me."

"Is he a scientist?"

"No," Norm admitted, lowering his voice even more. "He actually wandered into the base from the forest. He was a security officer who survived the war, and we almost killed him. But after Max figured we could use him, we started putting him to work on the security. But he's okay. Just overprotective. Now anyway."

"And he was okay with how things went down that day?" I asked, glancing around to make sure no one was listening.

"Honestly?" Norm said. "I think he wanted to live more than anything else, and we're not killers. So we worked something out with him. Now this is his home too."

It got quiet after that, and Norm pulled his pack on as he rose to his feet. "I guess I should get back to the ground. I offered to keep an eye on some of the kids while the grown-ups are getting ready for the celebration tonight, and I'm going to take a few hunters to find Grace's school. We should only be gone a few hours, but still."

"What about the news you were bringing me?" I asked, and he paused.

"Um, well, about three months ago, we picked up a faint signal on the long-range sensors, putting it about 2.6 light-years away from the Alpha-Centauri System — and Pandora. At first, we didn't think it was anything special. We've been picking up celestial bodies on the sensors for years. After we started diverting power from the link room to the security of the rest of the base, it would happen every few months. A comet here. A meteor shower there. But this was different. Controlled and aimed right at us."

"A shuttle," I commented.

"More than likely. And with the sensors being pushed up as high as they can get, that puts it about three and a half years away. Me and Max and few of the other avatar drivers all agreed to keep an eye on it every week or so to see about its trajectory, but it hasn't changed."

He stopped, and I looked at him. "You knew this three months ago," I said, "and you didn't tell me?"

I tried not to sound angry, but suddenly I was thinking about the safety of my people, and it felt like I had three days, not three years.

"I told you we didn't know what it was at first. We've only really been able to confirm the signal in the last few days, and like I said, we're keeping an eye on it. We were expecting this, Jake. We've got time. Right now, we need to think about figuring out what's going on with you. Because this whole zoning-out thing you're doing isn't normal. And right now, you're the only specimen we've got to test. So I want you to think about coming back to the base for some tests."

I sighed heavily, dropping my head again. "Is that really necessary?" I pleaded. "Can't you do something here?"

"Not really, no," he admitted. "Not to get to bottom of it."

"Not now," I told him. "Ava's just starting to learn to ride, and I want to be here with her while she's doing that. And I . . . don't want to take her away from this place now that she's settled in."

"I know," he said softly. "But think about it. I'll see you later, okay?"

I nodded watching him leave as he carried his pack and a spare exopack, and once he was gone, I had no idea what I was going to do next, so I just sat there.

* * *

The celebration that night was different from the one we'd had several days earlier after Ava had made her first kill. It was more formal for one thing, and there were many traditions and songs that were performed as a result. And I couldn't ignore my responsibilities the way Mo'at had insisted the last time, since there were other hunters involved this time. It was easy to honor Ava and her achievement, and no one could deny that she'd earned it the way Rey'sik and Taw'biht had even though they'd been working much longer and harder than her since they'd both been very young. I made a point of highlighting that as well. Ava had excelled so quickly, and she'd worked so hard. It wasn't too much of a stretch for me to be as proud as I was.

Norm seemed to enjoy himself, even if he was about three feet shorter than almost everyone there. The children he'd spent most of the day with were all hanging onto him like he was a rare treasure. Some of them even called him _karyutsyip_ — little teacher. He thought that was kind of cute, and it made him feel a little more welcome than he had in a long time.

After the formal part of the celebration that included songs, stories, dancing and music, food from the hunt that had been going on while Tu'San had been taking his hunters into the mountains was passed through the people along with drinks and the normal togetherness that usually accompanied any Na'vi celebration. I know a lot of the people were more than just a little surprised to see Norm eat and drink with them, but I don't think anyone objected. It was almost like he belonged there, even if it was for just the night.

Ava and a few of the girls she'd become acquainted with the last few weeks all enjoyed the celebration while keeping a safe distance from the boys there, and I watched them all dance around each other most of the night after all the formalities were finished. I also spotted Eyreal with a few of the unmated women in the Clan, and I suddenly wanted to know why she didn't have a mate. She had to be at least 23 in age, and it was strange for her to be on her own. But it wasn't my place to question her way. I'd already become accustomed to her being around the way Ava had, and I felt strangely possessive over her. It felt odd.

The festivities lasted long into the night, and Norm ended up eating and drinking too much to fly back to the base, so I made sure it was all right with Mo'at for him to stay the night as long as I watched him. And I even found him his own hammock to sleep off his night out. I also noticed him strap on his exopack just as we were climbing up into the tree to get him down for the night. He hadn't worn it all day.

For her honorable act of saving Rey'sik's life, Ava was given something even _I_ hadn't been afforded, even though I'd accomplished something no one before me had, by having Mo'at announce her acceptance into the clan without anymore need on Ava's part to prove herself to them.

Later that night, after most of the celebration had died down, Mo'at had been plain in her reasoning with me.

"Only by her choosing will she embark on _Uniltaron_," she told me. "This child has proven herself to me, and to her teacher, and by her own reasoning understands the very way which makes her strongest. Through much meditation and prayer, I have remembered this child's _sa'nok_. An unusual _tawtute _for certain, but an honorable one, I am confident. I also would not place her well-being on the shoulders of someone with so much on his mind. She understands her place now. There is no need for her to do more."

It hadn't been hard to agree with Mo'at, especially where the Dream Hunt was concerned. I knew most young hunters went through the ritual for the right to choose their own path, among other things. I knew why I'd done it — both reasons why I'd done it — and there was no reason for Ava to put herself through it unnecessarily. And even though I didn't say anything to Mo'at, I was also worried about her being a meter shorter than everyone else. I worried about her being so small and having to endure the pain that came with the Dream Hunt. Completing it was probably the one thing every hunter wished for to seek their dream spirit, but I wanted Ava to be herself for a little while longer before anything else major happened.

Due to the amount of food and drink I'd consumed myself, I was blessed with the first dreamless sleep I'd had in several months. There were no visions, no faces, no voices. I slept like I hadn't slept in weeks, and when I woke up the next morning to find Ava and Thomas huddled together for the first time since she'd come to the village, I started to get the feeling that everything was going to be okay. At least for a little while.

* * *

The weeks leading up to Ava's seventeenth birthday were hectic, if not expectedly so, especially with all the bonding she still had to do with her _ikran_. She excelled, learning to hunt from the back of her new ride. I was still worrisome about her being so high up in the sky, even if I was with her half to most of the time with Tu'San and Eyreal. Taw'biht and Rey'sik completed the small group we took out most days to scout the area for herds _talioang_ and packs of _nantang_. Only one of those was for hunting, and the other was just for Ava's own curiosity.

Ava became even more proficient with her bow, able to spot the right size of prey just for her and take it down with a single arrow — something I'd only accomplished a handful of times in all my years of hunting from the back of my own _ikran_. Watching her was more fulfilling than I'd expected, and seeing everyone else accept her place in the clan made me feel like I'd done right by her — and my brother. I don't know why, but it made me think he was proud of me, even if I hadn't seen him in over ten years.

But Mo'at had been right about there being a lot on my mind, since it didn't matter how much I drank at meals. I still had dreams. I still heard voices and saw faces of people looking at me like I was someone else. And it hadn't been until the last few that I realized who they were looking at even if that was impossible. Because they weren't looking at me. They were looking at Tommy.

A doctor would have told me it probably had a lot to do with the fact that the body I was inside wasn't really mine. It was my brother's, since it had been made from his DNA. But a different kind of doctor, the kind I'd never really been to, would have told me there was something deeper going on. I put off going to the base for Norm's tests until I absolutely had to, opting to fly there with Ava while we were in between hunts instead of having him fly me there on the Samson.

I called him before I left, since it wouldn't take me nearly as long as it usually took him, and when Ava and I got to the base, Norm, Max and the new guy, Alex were waiting for us on the South Lawn.

They all looked about as green as the grass when we landed, but as soon as we were on the ground, Norm moved forward.

"Took you long enough to get here," he said with a smile.

"We've been hunting," I explained, walking toward him slowly as Alex eyed me suspiciously. I tried to ignore him for the time being.

"You get a big one for me?" Norm commented, still smiling.

I smiled glancing at Ava. "I didn't," I said to him. "But Ava did."

She moved forward easily, stepping in front of him and wrapping her long arms around him. She was only about a foot taller than he was, so it wasn't as awkward for him as it would've been with me. "Norm," she said softly.

"It's good to see you too, Ava. How do you like your new ride?" he asked, and she looked back at her _ikran_ as he watched from the distance.

"I named him Hawnuyu," she said, to which her _ikran_ eyed Norm suspiciously. "It means 'protector.' Since it's his job now too. And he seems to like it. He seems to like me."

Norm smiled at me, but neither of us said anything as he stepped back to where Max and Alex were standing.

"Alex," he said. "This is Jake. Our, uh, local _olo'eyktan_. He's also —"

"Oh, I know who he is," Alex said abruptly.

"Then I'm at a disadvantage, friend," I said, stepping closer with Ava. "Because I don't know anything about you."

"We're not _friends_," he said coldly. "It's your fault I got left out there to die."

I looked at Norm. "Haven't you told him _I'm_ the good guy around here?"

Norm looked at Alex. "Yes, I have. On several occasions. Alex, reign it in. I invited him here. Besides, we're going to have to start dealing with him a lot more with the shuttle coming."

"I talked to Mo'at," I said to Norm. "About getting you guys some supplies since you've been here for so long. I'm sure we could spare something for all of you. Food and other things."

"I'm sure we'll all appreciate that," Norm said looking at Alex pointedly. Then he looked at me. "Come on. Let's get started."

He and Max led the way, and while Ava and I followed them, Alex trailed us holding what looked like a long-distance tranquilizer in his hands.

The compound looked pretty much like it had the last time I'd been there, deserted but with all kinds of plants growing the garden and vegetation being held back by the fence keeping out most of the wild animals where the kill zone filled with land mines didn't already do its job. I was only just now thinking about the sacrifices the science team had been making the last ten years, especially where the avatars were concerned. And I knew Norm didn't like to talk about it, but at least they were safe. At least they could keep the base operational without the machines that had kept the plant going all those years.

"You look good, Jake," Max said as we all walked.

I smiled at him. "Thanks. You too. I didn't get a chance to ask last time. How are Helen and the kids?"

He laughed, smiling proudly. "They're good. They help in the lab whenever they can."

"Keira's almost five now, isn't she?"

He nodded.

"Enough small talk," Alex ordered. "I'm trying to listen to those two things you left back there."

I glanced him. "They won't move unless they're told," I informed him.

"Says the big tall blue alien who was partially responsible for getting almost two hundred men killed."

I turned to him, halting our trek across the grass. "You got somethin' you wanna say to me, punk?" I demanded, standing over him as he glared at me.

"Just that I don't trust you any further than I can throw you," he hedged, apparently unafraid of the fact that I was almost four feet taller than he was. "The men who died didn't deserve their fate, not at your hands or anyone else's! _Eres un hijo traidor hipócrita de gran tamaño de puta!_"

"Say that last part again, _txanew fnawe'tu_," I demanded.

Norm stepped in. "I think he just insulted you in Spanish," he said carefully. "Something about being over-sized and self-righteous."

I scoffed, still looking at Alex. "I didn't have any more control over those men than Quaritch did, and I tried to stop him. Twice. I tried to get through to Selfridge, and neither of them would listen to me. Because they came to this place expecting to fight for what they wanted. They didn't care who they hurt in the process. Not the people who've called this place home as their right, or people who came here to serve them about as blindly as a flock of sheep. I didn't want _anyone_ to die," I stressed. "And even though I'm amazed you survived out there, I'm still glad you did. And I'm only an alien to you. The people I have in my life now call me 'friend,' not 'enemy.' And I honestly don't care if you're ever in that group of people. But I'll be damned if I'm going to let one of Quaritch's military assholes call _me_ self-righteous."

"Will both of you stop?" Ava pleaded. "Neither of you know enough about the other to make judgements. Besides, we're here for a reason, Jake. And it isn't to fight."

"I second that," Max said. "Let's get inside."

I didn't say anything else, allowing Ava to take my hand and pull me toward the science module as it set in the northwest corner of the compound.

The ambient room looked different from the last time I'd been there, now that there were three extra pieces of equipment pushed against the wall. But it was bigger than it had been before, and while Max and Alex moved into the lab, Norm walked me and Ava to a gurney where he'd already set up a scanner.

"We're going to do some basic scans first, okay, Jake?" he asked, pressing a few buttons to turn on the largest piece of equipment.

"Okay," I agreed, sitting up on the gurney and crossing my legs in front of me. "It looks different," I commented. "What did you do to it?"

"Well, we've got a few new gadgets in here," he gestured to the three newest pieces. "They used to be out in the long-house, but maybe I was anticipating you coming back, because we moved them in here a couple of weeks ago. We used them to run efficiency tests on the avatars before we stopped using them."

I remembered the last time I'd seen any avatars in the courtyard, and then I remembered what Norm had told me about how they'd had to stop using their avatars since they were diverting power from the link room for the security and life support systems. The last time any of the avatars had been used had been used had been over a year earlier even though Norm hadn't used his in over ten years after his avatar had been killed in the forest. From the first time they'd had to reroute power, they'd been putting their avatars in make-shift storage containers to keep them from dying.

"How are you guys coping with the indoors these days?" I asked, realizing I hadn't even thought to ask the last time I'd been here.

Norm smiled motioning for me to lie down. "We're all going a little stir crazy, except for me of course."

I mentally counted from the day it was to the last day they'd used any of the avatars, realizing something about the fact that Norm had been injecting himself with the compound that allowed him to breathe outside just shy of a year. "You started doing this to yourself because of them, didn't you?" I asked, seeing the realization on his face. "Because you wanted to make it possible for _all_ of you to be able to breathe outside."

When he didn't deny it, I spoke again.

"Norm, how did you know to do this to yourself?" I asked softly. "Did you know about Ava before I brought her here?"

"No," he said quickly. "Of course not. You saw all the decrypting we had to do to find all that stuff. But I — we found Grace's notes on the compound she made for someone else on the science team. Max and me, we were able to break it down, and when we were sure, I injected myself with it."

"So you knew it could've killed you if you weren't careful with it, didn't you?"

"After everything we've risked to be here," Norm said, "this was worth it. This is our home now, and we all figured it was time for us to accept that. This was the last thing for all of us to do to make it permanent. And I haven't had a relapse yet. Max is keeping an eye on me."

"But this won't be permanent, Norm," I stressed. "And I don't want anything to happen to any of you."

"Jake," Norm protested. "It's okay. Really. Don't worry about me. Now lay down so we can get started. You don't want to be here for six days do you?"

I obeyed reluctantly, laying back over the gurney and watching as he moved the scanner over my head and then my torso until he got to my feet. I tried helplessly to blank out my mind, but it was hard, especially with Ava at my side.

"There's a lot of synaptic activity going on in your body," Norm reported. "Not just in your brain."

"What does that mean?" I asked softly.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "Just be patient. I'll have to do a more extensive scan after the equipment finishes gauging all your vitals. Try not to think about it, Jake. I'm right here, okay?"

A few more minutes passed as I waited, and Norm pushed another series of buttons on his scanner before he spoke again.

"All your vitals are normal," he said over his scanner. "Heart rate and respiration are okay. Circulatory system looks good too. How have you been sleeping lately? Other than the times when you can't wake up."

"Fine," I said honestly. "And I don't always have dreams like the ones I had before. It's just every now and then. I don't even know what triggers them. But I . . . I know what they're about now."

Norm put his scanner down, moving closer to me. "What are they about, Jake?" he asked softly.

"My brother and Ava's mother, just not in that capacity," I said certainly. "I can't explain it. But when I dream, I feel like I'm in his body, and she's there, but it's only a feeling of her. And it's not that I can't wake up. I _don't_ wake up until I've seen what I need to see. It's always go something to do with Tommy. And Amelia."

This seemed to confuse Norm as he stood there with his scanner, but he didn't say anything, looking at Ava as she waited. I looked at her, taking her hand again.

"Why don't you wait outside?" I pleaded. "I'll be okay in here. I promise."

She hesitated, but after a few seconds, she bowed her head and left slowly, letting go of my hand and leaving me alone with Norm. As soon as she was gone, Norm leaned closer to me, whispering.

"All right," he began. "Logistically, there are a lot of ways to explain that. You remember what they told you about the avatars, right? They used the DNA of a Human donor and mixed it with the genetic material from the Na'vi, right?"

I nodded, wondering where he was going with this.

"Well, that's how they made Ava too. She wasn't conceived the traditional way, Jake. They didn't take an unfertilized egg from her mother and use . . . Na'vi 'sperm' to make a baby. They took a sample of her mother's DNA and spliced it with the genetic material of one Na'vi. Ava is, for all intents and purposes, a clone, just like your body is essentially a clone of your brother. It's _your_ body, but it was made from _his_ DNA. A geneticist would call it something like a memory echo. His body reacts to her body, it remembers her somehow."

This almost made sense, except for the memory echo thing. "But Ava was made here," I told Norm. "Tommy never made it here, and his avatar wasn't being made until a couple of weeks before he would have left. How is that possible?"

Norm shook his head. "I have no idea," he admitted. "I'm a scientist, not a theologist. But a more metaphysical explanation, considering where you are and what's happened to you, would be that someone's trying to tell you something. And since you're pretty sure you were led to Ava and didn't find her by accident, then we have to consider the possibility that none of your dreams are even dreams at all. They very well may be something else entirely. And as far as Tom's avatar, they didn't take our blood samples until a month or so before we were supposed to leave, and if what you told me about their transmissions to each other is right, then the memory of her was in his blood when they started making his avatar. And her mother had been talking to him when she was made, so the memory of him was in her blood too."

I sighed softly, lying still for another minute as another machine beeped across the room. I waited for him to check on it, and when he didn't say anything, I lifted my head to look at him.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. "At least it doesn't look wrong. It's just that your brain activity is really high, and even though Na'vi brain functions are different from Human functions, I wouldn't expect you to have this much activity — even while you're awake. Can you tell me what you've been dreaming about?" he asked, adding, "other than being in your brother's body."

I started with the first one, the one I'd had the day I'd found Ava in the forest, the one I still remembered with disturbing clarity, and I tried to remember every detail of every on I'd had since, even the one where I'd been with Amelia. That was awkward, especially with Norm standing there like he was taking notes. I finished with the last one I'd had the day of the celebration, even though there had been others since. These were the dreams that had given me the most insight, especially the ones about Ava and Tommy.

While I talked, Norm put monitor nodes on my forehead and along the back of my neck near my queue. When I asked him what he was doing, he breathed deep.

"We need to monitor you while you sleep," he said nonchalantly though I could see the prospect wasn't that comfortable for him either. "Do you think you could relax long enough for us to get any readings?"

I sat up, feeling more overwhelmed than I had in a long time. "How long will it take?" I asked. "Will I need to be here overnight?"

"Not if you think you can catch a few hours in the long-house," he commented. "We'll just take the readings, and you can go back before too much time passes. I can get back to you with the results."

I thought absently about having to be here a whole day, and I knew I didn't want to be away from the village that long. So I looked at Norm and nodded. "Okay. I'll try."

He led the way back out into the courtyard where Ava was waiting for me. She saw me almost as soon as I was outside, hurrying to me and stopping just short of putting her arms around me. I took her hands in mine gently.

"It's okay. They're just running some tests. Let's go lay down for a little while," I said, urging her toward the long-house with Norm behind me. "They have to watch me while I sleep."

She didn't argue, allowing me to pull her along while Norm followed us.

The long-house hadn't changed much since the last time I'd been here, and I made my way to the bed I'd slept in before, but Norm spoke before I could lay down.

"You can use the hammock out back," he said, leading the way to the back of the house where I'd also slept. "It'll probably be more comfortable for you now."

I chose not to argue as I climbed into the hammock slowly, and Ava followed me automatically, even with Norm watching us. I held her close to me, watching as she lifted her fingers to touch the nodes on my forehead. "They're just monitors," I whispered to her. "So they can watch me."

She nodded, laying her head over my chest as Norm spoke slowly.

"Now, I don't want any funny business out of the two of you," he stressed, smiling . "Just relax and try not to think about anything serious. No hunting, no tribal affairs, none of that. Just relax."

I nodded even as I held Ava, and Norm left us alone for the time being.

It was easy enough to relax, especially with Ava there the way she'd been for the last few weeks, but as far as not thinking about anything serious, that was out of the question. I knew that was going to be impossible the second I closed my eyes to the sensation of Ava stroking the back of my neck near the nerve ending of my queue.

The sleep came easily, but the dream was one of the most vivid I'd had in months. It wasn't vivid in what I saw, but what I felt and heard and smelled and tasted. It was one thing to dream about flying around on the back of my _ikran_, but it was something else entirely to see the forest through Human eyes, to taste the water and eat the food. It was another thing altogether to hike and camp and hunt in a Human body that should've been too fragile for such things, but that was what I dreamed about.

It all came in flashes — from creeping along the forest floor barefoot toward my prey with a bow and arrow taut in my hands to swimming naked in the waterfall pool near Hometree. And it all went by so fast, almost like my brain was having trouble settling on one image or feeling. In the span of just a few seconds, I could feel so many sensations that I almost lost control of it.

"_I'm sorry I yelled at you,"_ I heard suddenly, finding myself outside in the bright sun. I looked to my side and saw Amy, but she wasn't pregnant anymore. We were lying outside looking at the sky, and she looked beautiful.

"_I should've told you something sooner,"_ I told her. _"You had a right to know. I don't think I was supposed to know either, but I heard Norm talking, and he had to tell me. I promise from now on, no secrets."_

She smiled, and I was intrigued. _"Then I promise too."_ She paused a long few seconds before she went on. _"He'll be here to get us soon. What are we going to tell him?"_

"_The truth."_

She looked at me, her eyes knowing and unavoidable. _"And what is the truth?"_

I scooted closer to her, touching her face and being amazed at how soft her skin was — how real she felt. _"The truth is that we know what he did, and we know why. And everything's going to be okay. No matter who comes or what they bring with them. And the truth is that I'm going to keep you safe no matter what happens. Okay?"_

She laughed softly, wrapping her hand around my wrist and stroking my palm with her thumb. _"Okay. The truth."_

I nodded. _"The truth."_

* * *

"_Jake! Wake up!"_

Max's voice pulled me out of my dream, and when I opened my eyes, I saw him and Norm standing above me and shining a light in my eyes.

"Jake," Norm said, then he laughed. "You know we could have done a controlled sedation for you, if we knew you were going to do this."

"What happened?" I asked softly.

I realized that while I was still in the long-house, I'd since been moved to a bed in the main part of the house where the light was much more prominent. "What time is it?" I went on.

"Well, it's only eight in the morning," Max said, "but you slept all afternoon yesterday and into the night. We've been trying to wake you since six. Norm wasn't kidding about this zoning-out thing, was he?"

I shook my head. "I guess not."

It was quiet as they moved scanners over my head, and I remembered the nodes on my forehead, lifting my fingers to touch one. "What did you find out?" I asked them.

"We're not sure," Norm said. "Like I told you, we're just taking readings. As soon as you're ready, you might want to get out of here before they send a hunting party after you. They might think we've kidnapped you," he chuckled.

I sat up slowly then, looking around. "Where's Ava?"

"She's outside," Max said. "She's fine. Get your bearings back and meet us outside, okay?"

I leaned over my legs and lifted my hands to my face. "Okay."

He and Norm left then, but I didn't move, remembering every detail of my dream. I didn't know how, but sometime in the future, with the revelation about the shuttle on its way, I was going to do something, and it was going to affect everything that happened when the shuttle got here. I didn't know exactly what I was going to do, and I had no way of knowing what was going to trigger this, but it was coming. And it had everything to do with Tommy.

Ava was on the other side of the courtyard near the fence with Hawnuyu, feeding him, and when she saw me, she only stared. I was now more worried about her than I'd been in six months. I was afraid for her and what it meant that the shuttle was coming here. I worried they knew about her and were coming to get her, even if the whole idea didn't make any sense. I knew I was going to have to work harder to keep her safe now than I had since finding her, and I knew I couldn't let anything happen to her.

"I don't know how long it'll take us to get the results," Norm said. "There are a lot of variables we'll have to look at. But I'll keep in touch to check on you and Ava. And I mean it this time."

I said nothing to him, even as he walked across the lawn with me to where Ava was waiting. I could see now that she was wearing her riding goggles and the crimson-colored leggings Eyreal had given her for her to ride in, and I realized she'd already been out to hunt once in the last 16 hours to feed her _ikran_.

"You two should get going," Norm said.

Ava lifted her eyes to mine, but she didn't say anything as we both mounted and then lifted off the grass to get away from the base. We didn't speak to each other while we flew, and neither of us did anything to change that until we were both making our way down from the highest branches of Hometree after landing both our _ikrans_ in their nest.

"Are you okay?" I asked her, walking along the branch with her, absently holding onto her waist as we moved along slowly.

"I'm okay," she confirmed, continuing, "despite having to help Norm and Max move you from the hammock to a bed where they could scan you again."

I exhaled heavily, speaking softly. "I'm sorry."

She stopped and turned to me. "Don't be sorry," she demanded, though it sounded more like a plea. "I know you don't know what's happening to you. And I know they don't either. But it scares me. And I don't know why. I'm worried about you, Jake."

I stepped closer to her, lifting my hand to her face. "Don't worry about me, Ava. Please. I know this is scary. Believe me, it scares me too. But Norm's gonna figure this out. It's what he does. Just trust that this is all gonna work out, and before you know it, this will all be just a memory."

She lifted her hands to my cheeks, easing her fingertips over my forehead where the nodes had been previously. "I do believe you, Jake," she whispered. "I'm just scared."

I pulled her closer to me, holding her as tightly as I could for the few minutes we had before I saw Eyreal approaching us from below. I leaned back to look at Ava, gently kissing her forehead and sending her on along the branch as Eyreal made it to where I was waiting.

"You have returned," she said. "Norm says you would not wake for many hours. _Ma tsahik_ calls it _uniläie_. Norm helped you?" she asked.

"He did tests," I told her, watching her nod and seeing confusion in her eyes. "But he's not sure what's going on. But I'm okay."

She stopped, facing me uneasily. "I do not know how to tell you this," she began. "But he will tell you as well."

"What's wrong?" I asked quietly.

"_Ma tsahik_ chose her _hay'aw_ — next one," Eyreal revealed. "She chose me." She paused, looking around before she continued. "She also . . . told me that Tu'San . . . asked her about Ava and _Uniltaron_. He asked her if Ava is ready for a mate. I . . . knew you wanted to know this."

I took in what she told me slowly. And I knew what it meant. But I didn't say anything to Eyreal. I only nodded and led the way back to the ground where everyone else was gathering.

That night, after talking to Mo'at but remaining undecided about what Tu'San had asked her, I finally resolved to watch the last three months of Amelia's logs, and I realized something I knew would determine what I decided about Ava's future. I discovered that while I had been responsible for Ava getting lost in the forest over ten years earlier, I hadn't been responsible for her mother getting shot. At least not directly.

I learned the reason why Amelia had been shot was both my fault and Ava's. We'd both caused it. And so had he.

* * *

**So. A revelation about Jake's dreams, and another dream. At least we have a good idea about what they're about. Don't we? And yes, this was always the plan. **

**And I have a question for you all. Would you like the last trip down memory lane to be done in two parts or three? And yes, those are your only two options.**

**Now, onto the definitions!**

**_Ikran_ - We should all know what this is.**

**_talioang _- These are sturmbeest, and they're about the size of a house.**

**_Zawng -_This is the name of Jake's Ikran. It means Scream.**

**_Yerik - _These are like deer.**

**_Mons Veritatis - _This is the Mountain of Truth. It's where they go to select their Ikran.**

**_Zerok._** _**Rikx nìwin. Lu keykxel. - **_**Remember. Move fast. Be strong (confident).**

**_Pa'li - _Horses the size of elephants.**

**_Iknimaya - _Stairway to Heaven. This is a Rite of Passage for Hunters.**

_**flä **_ - **succeed (obviously, hehe)**

**_Ngaytxoa_ - Sorry, my forgiveness**

**_'eylan - _friend**

**_kxutu - _enemy**

**_Ma sempul - _Father**

**_chey - _This is where you hang all your stuff when you're not wearing it.**

**_Karyutsyip - _Little teacher**

**_Uniltaron - _Dream Hunt**

**_sa'nok - _mother**

**_tawtute - _Sky Person**

**_Hawnuyu - _Protector**

**_Nantang - _viperwolf**

**_Olo'eyktan - _Clan Leader**

**_txanew fnawne'tu - _Greedy Coward**

_**uniläie**_ - **dream-vision**

**_hay'aw - _next one (There isn't a word for "successor," although if you can find one, let me know.)**

**Spanish:**

_**Eres un hijo traidor hipócrita de gran tamaño de puta!**_ - **You traitorous over-sized, self-righteous son of a bitch! (I used a translator for this one. I know a little spanish, but not that much.)**

**So, I say again. This is good, right? I hope you all have all those words. It won't be the last list of definitions, but maybe a few more won't make it too bad, huh?**

**Stay tuned, and until next time, Keep Calm and Carry on!  
**


	21. Collision Course I

**Before we move on to the story . . .**

**Due to a couple of recent reviews, I feel compelled to clear a few things from the air. First and foremost, to respond to the most recent review. Ava and Jake are not related in any way. Yes, he met her when she was nearly six years old, but it was only for a few minutes, and she was lost in the forest for ten years. While it only took her a day maybe to remember him, it took Jake several days to remember her. Yes, Ava's mother knew Jake's brother, and yes, they "talked" to each other for several months before Tom's death. But Jake was never told of Ava's existence. Secondly, I'm aware of how young Ava is. I know it would probably be better if she were older, but if you look at dates and events, it simply isn't possible for her to be older and still exist the way she is. Grace didn't get to Pandora until 2139, and by then, she was already a renowned scientist. In this story, Ava's mother arrived on Pandora in 2147, meaning Grace was only there eight years before the experiment. I guess Amelia's shuttle could've been on a different schedule, but it wasn't. And in our eyes, yes, Ava is very young. But in Na'vi culture, at 16 or 17 years old, she's an adult. Don't forget that Jake's avatar was grown to full maturity, which in around 17 years old, but he was close to a foot shorter than Tsu'tey. Neytiri was 18 when she found Jake in the forest, and she was already sort of betrothed to Tsu'tey even though they hadn't mated because her mother and father were still leading the clan.**

**Also, don't let Ava's size fool you. She might be small, but she packs a good punch, and she's just as involved in this as Jake. She's one of those characters who gives as good as she gets, and she sometimes guides me more than Jake does – and it's his story.**

**And on the subject of Thomas, Jake's son. (I know no one else has mentioned this, but . . .) Simply because Thomas isn't in every chapter or hanging on Jake's hip doesn't mean that Jake has forgotten he has a son. Thomas is almost ten years old. He's almost six feet tall, and he's already carrying a bow. He has his own friends and his own activities. And Jake has had him in his life for nearly ten years. He's been helping Neytiri care for Thomas since he was born, and he's probably the one who would more than likely set an example for Thomas. So it seems normal, preferable even, that Jake give Ava as much of his attention as he's given to Thomas the last nine years of his life. And she _has_ only been a part of Jake's life for a little more than six or eight months. When someone new comes into your life, don't you tend to focus on their well-being just as much as anyone else's?**

**I really appreciate any time_ anyone_ takes to tell me what they're thinking of the story, and though most of my reviews have been positive, I'll address the negative ones as well. I don't want anyone to hesitate telling me when something is amiss. I tend to focus in a tight zone, so if something doesn't feel right about where things are going, I like to know about it.**

**As always, I really hope you all like this story, and I hope to get more feedback – good and bad. I appreciate all my reviews and anytime anyone adds the story to their favorite and on their alerts. And I'll do my best to keep the standards of my story as high as I can get it.**

**Also, we're coming into the last leg of our stretch down memory lane, so bear with me while we tackle the three months Jake and Amelia were literally on the same planet together.**

**And now that I've probably completely confused you all, Read on!**

* * *

_**Collision Course**_

Amelia Shaw had never been more nervous in her entire life, and she wasn't even really sure why. It wasn't like she was waiting for the twin brother of a man she'd only ever corresponded with for ten months over five years earlier or anything like that.

Okay, she wasn't actually _meeting_ him. And he probably, more than likely, didn't even know she existed. But he _was _on his way down in the shuttle. And Grace had already resolved not to give him anymore of her time than he was worth. There really wasn't anything Amelia could do to stop her, but if there was something Amelia could do, she was at least going to get a good look at him — no matter what Grace said.

"I just want to see him," Amelia told her that morning after the packet had come in with reports and crew manifests from the shuttle.

"No," Grace said with finality as she walked beside Amelia to the link room. "It's not him, and you shouldn't be around him. He's probably an arrogant military asshole, and he'll probably go to Selfridge if he finds out about this."

Amelia sighed heavily, moving along the corridor as other members of the base personnel bustled around to get ready for the new arrivals.

"Besides," Grace added, "I haven't met him, and I already don't trust him. And I'm the one who has to work with him, so you just steer clear of him for now, all right?"

"How can you pass judgement on someone you haven't even met?" Amelia demanded.

"Easily," Grace argued. "Besides, maybe he'll prove me wrong the way you did. I don't have high expectations, but it _has_ happened before. Now get outside before Quaritch sees you wandering around here looking for someone you have no business looking for. I'll see you out there."

Grace moved on into the lab, leaving Amelia in the corridor as she smiled after her. But Amelia would not be deterred, even as she made her way through the lab to the airlock that led outside. It was still early enough that most of the guards were still coming on duty, and most of the science team was still eating breakfast so Amelia was able to step outside without anyone noticing she wasn't wearing a mask.

But as soon as she was out in the courtyard, she saw Ava climbing one of the towers away from the main garden, and Warren was watching from the ground in his avatar. She didn't want to say anything until she was close enough, but with new people coming today — and not just on the science team — the last thing Ava needed to be doing was climbing in plain view of everyone. Warren saw her then, motioning for Ava to start her descent.

"She better get down here," Amelia snapped. "Avamelia Darrin Shaw, you know better than that," she chastised.

Ava made it to the top of the tower, balancing on the center ring before she jumped out and caught a rope to make her way down to the ground where Amelia was waiting.

"I did it," she exclaimed, moving to tackle Warren as he laughed.

"Of course you did," he praised. "You're a natural. Come on, let's get inside before your mother has a heart attack."

"Yes, please," Amelia begged, looking around to make sure no one had seen them. "And let's not do this again for a little while, okay? Until everything's settled down."

"You mean, until the new guys have seen Ava and sworn in blood not to expose her to the security guys on base?" Warren teased.

"I don't think that's too much to ask," she exclaimed as they all made their way through the long-house to the habitat in the back where Ava and Amelia stayed most of the time. Warren stayed out here when he could get away with it, which wasn't often anymore. Not after what had happened the day he'd been approached by Quaritch.

"Even for him?" Warren asked, and Amelia knew he was talking about Tom's brother Jake.

Amelia sighed softly, watching Ava climb into the hammock there to relax. "Not you too," she pleaded. "You're not going to be like Grace and size him up before you even meet him, are you?"

"He's an ex-marine," Warren reminded her. "Or at least, he's been a civilian for a little while. I know his type, Amy. They never change. Amy, do you remember what we talked about that night after Quaritch came to get me from remote camp, and I was gone for two days?"

"Of course I remember," she exclaimed. "You scared Ava out of her mind when you left."

"Well, this guy is exactly what Quaritch would need to work one of the Clans," he told her softly. "He's been trained to take orders, and he wasn't trained for this program — not from what I've heard. From what I've heard, they shipped him here less than a week after his brother died. We can't trust him, Amy."

Amelia sighed heavily, glancing at Ava to see her sleeping soundly. "I can't do that, Warren," she said after a minute. "I have to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"Why?" Warren asked as he knelt in front of her and reached for her hands to hold them in his massive avatar hands.

"Why do you still use your avatar?" she asked instead of answering his question.

Instead of pressing her like he usually did, he answered her question as he lifted his fingers to her face. "Because I still like to run through the obstacle course and play basketball," he said with a playful smile. "Plus I can roam around whenever I want to without the guards harassing me. After what happened at remote camp, I've had to be careful, even at night. But mostly so I can help with Ava since she's so big now."

"I have to give him a chance," Amelia said after a minute. "If I don't, then everything I learned from Tom will have meant nothing. You know I love you, don't you, Warren?" she asked, touching his forehead and then his nose. "You know how I feel about you, right?"

"I do," he said bowing his head.

"Then please just trust me. And accept that this is something I have to do, for me and for Ava. If I don't at least get a look at him, even if he doesn't know me or Ava, I'll always wonder if I would've done the same thing for Tom when he came." She sighed lifting both her hands to his face. "I know Tom's gone. And I know his brother isn't him. But he's here in his place, and whether Grace wants to believe it or not, he's here for a reason, and not just because Tom was killed. I can feel that."

Warren sighed softly, lifting his hands to hers and leaning closer to kiss her. Since coming back from remote camp, he'd started doing it a lot more often, and it wasn't as strange now. Amelia kissed him back, laying her forehead over his as he pulled her closer and nearly crushed her against him. "Please just be careful," he whispered to her. "Don't make your presence obvious. If he sees you, don't engage him. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. Either of you."

Amelia laid her hand over the back of his head, stroking his hair and threading her fingers through the hair at the back of his head where the nerve endings of his queue rested. He shivered, and she smiled, leaning back to look at him. "Feel good?" she whispered.

He nodded, keeping his eyes shut as she continued to stroke.

"Well, then try to miss me while I'm inside," she insisted.

"Do you have to go now?" he pleaded, holding her tighter. "The shuttle won't be down here until later. You're mine until he gets here, right?"

Amelia held onto him tighter, still stroking and leaning closer to kiss him again. "I'm always going to be yours," she promised. "And you're always going to mine. Your reaction to my playing only proves it further."

He shivered again, his massive avatar hands grasping onto her possessively.

"I guess I can stay out here a little while," she whispered to him softly, "but only if you promise to come out here tonight to keep me company."

"I promise," he whispered.

She laughed softly, still stroking his queue with one hand and easing the palm of her other hand down his back.

Amelia didn't stay outside all day, even though she did stay in the long-house with Warren and Ava most of the morning. As soon as she heard the shuttle, Amelia left Warren and Ava in the hammock so she could make her way back inside.

"Don't tell Grace where I am," she told Warren softly. "And keep an eye on Ava for me, okay?"

He nodded as he held onto Ava. "I will."

She eased away from him then, moving through the long-house and then stepped back out into the courtyard. It was nearly noon from what the sky told her, and most of the avatars were out in the courtyard doing their normal activities. Guards were also patrolling, and Amelia stopped by her storage chest before stepping outside. As a precaution, Amelia strapped on the exopack they'd mocked up for her so she could walk around outside without anyone noticing. No one paid her any attention while she walked, and she made it back to the airlock before she saw Grace moving through the garden.

No one in the lab noticed Amelia moving away toward the orientation level of the base, and she kept it that way until she found the mess hall where the new arrivals were filing in slowly. She stayed a good three or four meters from the main group, watching them move inside and trying to see his face in the crowd. But she didn't see him. For a minute, she thought she'd missed him, moving closer until she saw a lone man in a wheel chair moving down the corridor toward the mess hall. Even from a distance, she knew his face, feeling her heart leap into her throat and pick up pace like it hadn't been six years since she'd seen his face. It felt like it had only been a few months. The last words she'd heard him speak resounded in Amelia's head as she watched him ease into the mess hall, and she followed him without thinking.

She had to remind herself that it wasn't Tom. It wasn't possible for it to be Tom. She knew that. She knew Tom was gone. And she knew this was his brother Jake. But she didn't care. She just wanted to see him.

But when she stepped into the doorway of the mess hall, his back was to her as he stopped at the back of the room a few meters from where everyone else was sitting. Quaritch was making his "You are not in Kansas anymore" speech. Amelia had heard it a couple times, and the way he talked about the Na'vi sometimes made her blood boil. She hoped Warren was wrong about Jake. She hoped he would learn to love this place the way she had. Only time would tell.

Amelia seemed to only just remember Tom's avatar, and with one last glance into the mess hall, she made her way back to the science module where they were more than likely unloading the two new avatars from the shuttle. She wanted to see it before they started decanting them.

Just off from the ambient room, a storage space was being filled with two over-sized tanks, but these tanks weren't holding water. They weren't holding seeds for the garden or even fertilizer for the plants. These tanks were holding something much more valuable. Inside these tanks were two of the most expensive specimens to ever enter the base in the last six years, and one of them was already being "unpacked" from its trip across the small span of stars between here and its starting point back on Earth. And Amelia recognized Tom's avatar before she was even in the room.

The liquid inside the tank was tinted blue along with lamps meant to mimic the light on Pandora, and the umbilical running from the controls to his abdomen were meant to give him nutrients and help him grow. He looked just like Tom and his brother Jake. He had their chin and high cheek bones, but he also had normal Na'vi traits the way Ava did. His nose was wider than some of the others, reminding her of Eytukan and Tsu'tey, and his forehead was low. He sloshed around inside the tank like a dreaming baby, and Amelia was immediately reminded how he wouldn't work without someone to make him work. It was the only thing different between him and Ava. His hands and feet curled and clenched, and his tail and queue drifted inside the liquid.

He was beautiful. Like Tom. And Jake too.

"Pretty cool, huh?" she heard, looking up to see Max checking the controls on the side of the tank.

Amelia smiled. "They're beautiful."

Max moved to the other tank as it was also "unpacked," and she heard the doors open, glancing around to see Jake easing into the room with a tall man with a wide smile on his face.

Amelia moved away from the tank, out of Jake's view until she was on the opposite side of the room, and even though she didn't want to leave, she moved out the room quietly, making her way back through the lab so he wouldn't see her.

* * *

The day was finally winding down after a new set of scientists flooding the lab and making everything appear to be much harder than it actually was, and Grace was ready for her day to end. Helen, the feisty, grey-eyed, red-headed woman in charge of all the new arrivals, was still having trouble with the new guys' security codes, but all in all, it had been a good day. Now all she had to do was put everyone to bed and get back into the lab to check on her new guys for the avatar team. One she was looking forward to, since he had the credentials and background she needed, but the other was going to be a bit of a headache, and she knew that without even having to think about it.

Grace spotted Warren coming up from the habitat at the end of the long-house alone, and for a few seconds, she thought he was simply leaving Amelia and Ava for the night to get back inside. Since they'd come back from remote camp, he'd been putting his avatar down at the regular time like everyone else so Quaritch wouldn't suspect him of anything that could be considered inappropriate. Grace knew it was starting to wear him down, much more than spending nearly 18 hours in his link the way he'd been doing the first two months he'd known Amelia. She wanted to talk to him about it, but somehow, it didn't seem like the right time.

He looked at her as he stepped around to his bed which was coincidently at the back of the long-house, but he didn't say anything, moving around to the chest on the side of his bed. It was kind of early for him to be getting ready for bed, and Grace made her way over to him while looking over everyone else as they all straightened up their own personal areas.

"Been a short day," she said as she approached him, and he looked at her.

"You could say that," he smiled.

"Amy and Ava already down?" she asked, glancing into the habitat.

He glanced back too, sighing softly. "No."

Grace moved closer, watching the creases on his forehead deepen. "What do you mean, 'no'?" she asked.

"I promised Amy I wouldn't tell you," he said, sitting on his bed and pulling a t-shirt over his head.

Grace leaned closer. "Warren," she said. "Is she inside?"

He didn't really have to say anything, but Grace knew it instinctively. Of course. She should've known that Amelia wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to see a man she neither knew nor had any business knowing. Even after everything they'd talked about that morning, Grace should have expected this. Especially since she hadn't seen Amelia all day.

Grace sighed softly, looking around again. "Where's Ava?"

He gestured back to the habitat. "Back there, reading."

She nodded, rising and moving to the barrier they'd put up for Amelia and Ava to have a little privacy at the end of the day. Back here, they had trunks for clothes, food, and they even had their own shower. Grace expected to see Ava laying in the hammock reading, but when she poked her head through the barrier, she couldn't see Ava anywhere, which was odd. Despite only being six, Ava was nearly four and a half feet tall, and she was kind of hard to miss.

"Ava," she called, hoping the little trouble-maker was hiding somewhere just for the sake of hiding.

But several seconds passed, and no acknowledgment came back. Grace stepped further into the habitat, checking a few places she thought Ava might be able to hide. But the shower was empty, and so was the closet where Amelia kept their clothes.

Grace hurried back into the house. "She's not back there," she exclaimed, garnering the attention of nearly everyone in the house.

Warren looked at her, moving to the barrier and looking himself before he returned to Grace. "She was just here," he swore.

"She wouldn't go inside, would she?" Helen asked as she made her way to them slowly.

Grace looked at Warren, seeing him in deep thought. "Actually, I think I know where she is," he said. "But I have to get out of my link to find her."

"Go," Grace ordered. "Get her back out here, now."

He laid down then, disconnecting from his avatar, and Grace glanced at Helen, nodding for her to get back to her own bed.

"All right, everybody!" she yelled. "Lights out! It's dinnertime! Lisa, when you get inside, I need you to help Warren, okay?"

She looked at Lisa pointedly, and when she saw acknowledgment in Lisa's eyes, she shooed the last two lab techs out of the house, closing the doors and locking them before she shut off the lights inside the house. "Settle down!" she yelled. "I'll see you all at dinner. Good night."

Slowly, to prolong the moment as much as possible, Grace made another round through the house, making sure everyone was down and disconnecting before she did as well to get back into the link room where she would be able to meet her two new guys.

* * *

Since she could remember, Ava had always been curious about the people inside the lab, but her mother and Uncle Warren and even Aunt Grace had never allowed her to satisfy her curiosity. For nearly four years, she'd been watching them wander around the courtyard with their masks on, and even though she knew their differences from Uncle Warren's big body and his smaller body, she was still curious about so many things. And the only way she was going to learn anything about them was to see them up close. Aunt Grace was always telling her the only way to really study something was to see them with her own eyes.

After Uncle Warren had left the habitat, Ava had pretended to read in the hammock she sometimes shared with her mother, listening to him talk to Aunt Grace while she slid out into the trees surrounding the end of the long-house. Being as quiet as she could, she moved from the rear of the house to the front, seeing the smaller people leaving the house and following them to the airlock. They never saw her.

It was still kind of light out, but it would be dark soon. Ava would need to be quick, and she shuffled between two males taller than her as she grasped onto her tail nervously. It twitched in her hands, but she held it tight. Most of these people all thought it wasn't real, especially since she and her mother all told them it was paint on her face, arms and legs and that she just really loved the Na'vi so much she wanted to look like them as much as possible. Even her queue, which she'd already put to good use, was cleverly disguised in her hair that was already to the middle of her back. No one thought it was strange that she looked so young, but they never really thought about her being a child. She never spoke like one, even if she did behave like one sometimes. Like now.

The lights and air inside were difficult to adjust to, but Ava had seen and breathed in here often enough for it to not be a problem, and she followed the smaller people into the lab before she made her way to the corridor. She avoided anyone in a uniform, and she tried to stay hidden within the taller people walking around her.

They all looked so different! She couldn't believe they all got along so well! There were tall ones and short ones. There were pink ones and brown ones, and there were males and females. They all seemed to know each other, talking and laughing as they milled around the rooms off the corridor. Some of them were petite and slender like her mother, and others were tall and muscular like Uncle Warren. But none of these looked like her mother or Warren. So interesting!

None of them really seemed to notice her, even as she walked among them in a tank top and shorts with her rubber shoes. Her tail still twitched in her hands, but she didn't let go. The more it flicked, the tighter she held it, and she made sure no one really thought to look at what she had in her hands. She was sure she could get a better look on the habitat level where she knew Uncle Warren still kept a room. Since they'd come back from remote camp, he'd been spending more time in here, but she knew he didn't want to. She knew he wanted to be with her and her mother. They were his family now after all.

The habitat level was even more crowded as even more people milled around looking for their rooms. She'd only been here a few times when she and her mother had spent the night in Uncle Warren's room when the guards were running night maneuvers, but it still looked the same. The walls were a plain grey color with bright yellows letters and numbers displayed nearly two meters above her head.

_Level 4, Section 6_ told her where she was she eased down the corridor around the people hurrying around. Uncle Warren's room was in Section 10, but he didn't have a bunk mate. Neither did Aunt Lisa, but Ava didn't really find that strange. She wasn't sure why.

"I'm gonna go get something to eat," she heard from behind her, looking to see a very tall man with dark blond hair walking next to a shorter man sitting in a chair with wheels carrying him along the floor. "You wanna come?"

"Nah," the man in the chair said. Ava recognized him and the taller man from the pictures she'd been seeing on Aunt Grace's reading pads. They were the new avatar drivers. Aunt Grace hadn't told her about the man in the chair.

Ava sifted through the images in her head, quickly putting the faces with the names and remembering which one was which.

"I'll see you later then," the taller man said to the man in the chair.

"Later."

Ava hid from the man in the chair as he glided passed her, and she followed him, wondering why he was in a chair with wheels. Didn't his legs work? This would be a perfect time for her to study him up close. He looked interesting.

* * *

After traveling over four light years from home, sleeping in suspended animation for over five years and arriving at nearly midday on his new place a residence, Jake was finally able to see the room he would be sleeping for real for the next six years. He couldn't believe he was really here, even though it felt like less than a week had passed since he'd been shown his brother's dead body at the Crematorium. None of this felt real, not even after seeing his brother's avatar fully grown and floating in a tank the size of a cannon. Jake had been told in advance — very little advance — that the damn thing would be over nine feet tall with a tail and feet the size of a truck tire.

Sitting in the room he would be sharing with Norm, Jake was just now able to open his duffle to have a look inside even though nothing had changed since he'd hurriedly packed it less than 72 hours before boarding the shuttle to be put in cryosleep. He remembered the suits back home releasing Tommy's personal effects to him — everything his brother'd had on him when he'd been shot. His pants, shoes, jacket and his bloody shirt that still had a hole in the side from the bullet that had hit his brother's intestines, causing him to bleed out too fast for the medics to save him.

As Jake pulled Tommy's clothes out and set them on the bed with the full intention of getting them recycled so they could be put to good use, a glint of silver clattered to the floor, and Jake leaned down to see what it was. He was surprised to see a silver chain with a small butterfly charm hanging from it, and he was curious. This looked like it was supposed to belong to a little girl. What had Tommy being doing with it the night he'd been shot?

Gently, Jake folded all of Tommy's clothes, thinking silently that his brother had deserved more than to be burned at the Crematorium and shuffled out of the way along with all the other people who'd died that day. Tommy had been someone special, someone who would have effected change in this place, but now, he was nothing but a distant memory. It wasn't fair. Jake was all alone in the world — universe, or galaxy if you put it more plainly. What was he doing here? Why had he agreed to come? Were there any easy answers?

He laid the necklace on top of Tommy's clothes, still confused by its presence but too tired to really overanalyze it. Tommy was the one who overanalyzed every minute detail of just about everything there was to be analyzed. Jake wasn't usually the over-analytical type. Usually.

"You're Jake, right?" he heard, turning to see a little girl in his doorway with an inquisitive look on her face.

Immediately, he could see something different about her as she stood there in shorts and tank top with blue stripes painted on her face, arms and legs, but he figured that was just a kid thing. But she was beautiful, and Jake didn't usually allow himself those kinds of thoughts these days.

He smiled at her. "That's me," he said with a slight nod.

"I'm Ava," she said, stepping into the room slowly and reaching out to take his hand. "Grace told me about you. I recognize you from your picture. You're here to do what Uncle Warren does."

"Who?" Jake asked, since he hadn't really been introduced to everyone on the science team just yet.

She shook her head, still smiling and revealing a set of slightly pointed canines. Jake couldn't think if he'd been told about any kids being on the base, but she looked big enough to have been here for a while. And she sounded intelligent enough to be about ten years old.

"Nothing," she said. "What is that?" she asked, moving around him to where he'd folded Tommy's clothes. She reached out to touch the necklace, and Jake could see the most brilliant light in her eyes.

Jake looked at the necklace as it laid on top of Tommy's bloody shirt, thinking his brother might have meant to give it to someone who was her age even though he certainly couldn't have thought to give to her directly. "It's my brother's," he said softly, moving closer.

"It's pretty," she said softly. "What is it though?"

It was a strange question for a little girl like her to ask, especially when most little girls Jake had known all liked butterflies and necklaces. "It's a necklace," he said, lifting it in his hands to show it to her more closely. "And that's a butterfly."

"What's a butterfly?"

He laughed softly. "You don't know what a butterfly is? Haven't you ever seen one before?"

She shook her head, extending her finger and touching the charm. "And it was your brother's?"

He still smiled. "Yeah. He was always a little girly." He paused, looking back at the door and then at her. "Here, you take it. You'll put it to good use, right?"

She smiled widely as he lifted the necklace toward her and unclasped it. She bowed closer to him, her face close to his as she blushed gently, and he secured the chain around her neck as she laughed softly. Her fingers brushed his as he leaned away, and she lowered her eyes to look at the necklace.

"_Irayo_," she whispered softly.

Jake leaned closer, mostly because he'd barely heard her but also because he didn't understand her. "What was that?" he asked, grinning slightly.

She shook her head, still smiling. "Oh, sorry," she said with a nod as she lifted her eyes to his.

Jake was taken back by how clear and green her eyes were. He was sure he'd never seen anyone with eyes like hers in his whole life, and he was sure he never would again.

"Thank you," she said as a tall, dark-blond haired guy appeared at the door.

"Ava," he exclaimed. "I've been looking everywhere for you! You know you're not supposed to be here. What if someone saw you? Come on," he said extending his hand to her which she didn't hesitate to take while Jake still sat there.

She looked at Jake, still smiling and waving. "Bye!"

Jake nodded. "Bye, Ava. It was nice to meet you."

The tall guy pulled her off, whispering to her and kind of manhandling her in a way Jake didn't think was appropriate, but for all he knew, she knew who that guy was and was used to him being that way. Normally, Jake would have followed and given the guy a piece of his mind. But Jake didn't know the rules here, and he was already in trouble with his boss — Dr. Grace Augustine already considered him a thorn in her side she had no intention of giving the time of day.

It wasn't Jake's fault his brother had been killed less than a week before shipping out to this place, and he wasn't going to let anyone make him feel guilty for taking Tommy's spot. Whether he knew what he was doing or not, that was no reason for people to treat him like he was stupid.

Now that Jake was thinking about it, he was kind of hungry, and he did have an early morning, so he promptly turned around and left his room to get back to the mess hall for dinner. Maybe he'd get to meet more people on the science team.

* * *

As soon as Warren stepped out of the airlock with Ava, he lifted her in his arms to carry her back to the long-house where he was sure Amelia was currently going out of her mind with worry over her own daughter sneaking inside to spy on the people on base. Ava held onto him tightly, silent as her tail coiled itself around Warren possessively. These days, it did that often, especially since Warren was the closest thing she had to a father.

"You know better than to go inside unsupervised," Warren chided Ava, to which she sighed softly. "What if someone not on the science team had seen you? What would you have said to them? 'Hi'?"

She smiled, holding him tighter. "Maybe."

He squeezed her, looking over her to make sure she was okay and seeing a necklace around her neck. "Where'd you get that?" he asked, fingering it gently.

"Jake gave it to me," she said, moving her hand to Warren's. He immediately thought of the new guy, Tom's brother. "He said it belonged to his brother."

Warren remained silent as he carried her through the garden, but he thought the whole way, now knowing that Tom Sully had probably intended to give the necklace to Ava upon arriving. Suddenly, he didn't like Tom Sully so much anymore.

The long-house was of course silent as he walked through it with Ava in his arms, and he moved her to his back as they stepped down into the habitat where Amelia was currently pacing steadily. The minute she saw them, she hurried forward, pulling Ava from Warren's back and holding onto her tightly.

"What were you thinking?" she demanded from her daughter. "You know it's not safe for you to go inside by yourself."

"I just wanted to see them," Ava said softly, tears welling in her eyes as her mother scolded her.

"They don't know anything about you," Amelia pressed. "They could hurt you without meaning to. They could tell one of the security guards they saw you, and then what would we do? We're trying to keep you safe!"

"I'm sorry," Ava cried, the tears in her eyes spilling down her cheeks gently.

"Amy, come on," Warren said. "Go easy on her. This isn't the first time. And besides, I think we both know where she went."

Amelia exhaled heavily, lifting her hands to her daughter's face and wiping her tears away before she pulled her closer to hold her. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "But please, baby. You have to be careful. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you. Please?"

"Okay," Ava promised. "I'm sorry."

Warren stepped closer, and Amelia lifted her eyes to his. He lifted his hand to the back of her head, kissing her lips and then her forehead. "I'm going to take a shower, okay?"

She nodded, still holding Ava in her arms.

He left them there silently, moving back to the shower stall to clean up from laying in his link all day.

While he was alone, Warren allowed himself to admit that he _was_ jealous of Tom Sully. He couldn't tell Amelia that for fear that she wouldn't understand. He always had to be so understanding with her, especially with Ava between them more than half the time. He didn't even know how it had happened, but today made it worse. For the last six years, he'd given Amelia every piece of him he had to give, and what it all came down to was the fact that she was always going to have a place inside her that she reserved for someone who was never going to be there for her.

And now the guy's brother was here. Warren didn't trust him. Not even a little, and that was saying a lot about Warren more than it did the guy. Warren was usually the first person to give a new member of the team a chance, but for whatever reason, he just didn't have a good feeling about this guy. He didn't know if it really was the fact that he didn't have the training, or if it was something else. But Warren knew then he was going to have to keep an eye on the guy. Especially now that Ava had come into contact with him.

People around here had long memories, and that guy was bound to remember a little girl roaming around the base. Who wouldn't notice her? Warren loved her more than he thought possible, but she was just about as inconspicuous as a wild dog, and she had no qualms in scaring him and her mother over the smallest things. Ava was getting better about being careful, but she was still a little girl, and she had no shame — Warren knew that because of the amount of times she'd spied on him in the shower. Then there was that whole queue incident.

"Don't be thinking too hard in there," Amelia said, stepping up into the shower behind him and easing her arms around him until her hands were grasping onto the front of his shoulders.

Warren moved his hands to hers, glancing back at her to see her smiling. Since he'd started having to leave his avatar down every night when everyone else did and then having to spend most of his nights in his habitat inside, they hadn't been able to do this as often as they liked or as often as before. But with this new guy on base, he figured Amelia would want him to stay with her tonight. It was just inevitable.

He turned to face her, pulling her closer to him and leaning down to kiss her as she moved him further under the water. She whispered as he leaned back.

"Thank you for going to get her," she said with a smile. "No one else would have known where to find her."

Warren eased his hands up her spine to the back of her neck, and she shivered. He kissed her again. "It wasn't that hard. They always put the new guys in the same spot, and there weren't that many security guards around." He paused, looking outside the shower to make sure Ava wasn't nearby.

"She's asleep," Amelia promised him.

He rested his forehead against hers. "Did you see him?" he asked softly.

She nodded.

"And?"

She inhaled deeply, kissing him. "He looks just like his brother," she whispered laying her head over his chest. "He sounds like him. But he's in a wheelchair, and Grace doesn't like him. Not that those two things have anything to do with each other. I know she doesn't want me to have any contact with him because of Ava, but I was thinking while I was inside about a way I could see him and not have to be in contact with him. I'll have to talk to Grace."

Warren didn't say anything to that, holding her tighter and lifting his hand to his face to lean down and kiss her again. He just wanted to put the whole thing behind him, and he hoped Amelia wouldn't dwell on this for too long. He hoped she would remember they had Ava to keep safe, and Grace could keep an eye on this new guy — no matter what his agenda turned out to be.

From the shower, they both made their way to the bed that was across the habitat from Ava and set up behind a screen so they wouldn't be out in the open for Ava to see them. They didn't bother with towels or clothes, laying over the blankets and keeping their privacy even though they weren't usually quiet when they were making love. Warren couldn't honestly think of any other woman he'd ever been with that he felt like this for, and he never really wanted to. He never wanted to love anyone the way he loved Amelia, and laying in bed with her felt like nothing he'd ever felt. Holding her in his arms and feeling his body connected with hers was the most amazing experience of his life, and being in this place seemed to make it more amazing. Warren didn't know how that was possible. All he knew was how he felt.

"I love you," she whispered while they were laying facing each other after settling down for the night. She eased her fingers through his hair to the back of his neck, and he shivered again, feeling the after-effects of his queue reaching back through the link even though he wasn't in his avatar body.

He laid his forehead over hers, caressing the tip of her nose with his. "I love you."

"You know what I wish?"

"Hmm?"

"For Ava to have a little brother or sister. For Grace to have figured out how to fix what was wrong with me. For you to know what it feels like to have a son or a daughter of your own."

Warren rubbed his hands over her hips, applying enough pressure to her muscles to make her lean into him the way she did when she wanted more. "There isn't anything wrong with you," he said softly. "And I already know what it feels like to have a daughter. Ava's my daughter, Amy. The two of you make my life complete."

She smiled. "You're too easy," she giggled, still caressing the back of his neck and causing virtually every little hair along his neck, shoulders and arms to stand on end.

He shivered again, squeezing her against him. "I try. But you make it easy. A lot easier than I thought possible. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you."

She kissed him. "You would have gone home six years ago, and you'd probably still be avoiding your father," she whispered somberly.

Warren didn't say anything to that, inhaling deeply and relaxing as sleep overwhelmed him with the feeling of her caressing his spine with her fingertips from his tailbone all the way up to the nape of his neck.

* * *

Amelia had Ava awake, in and out of the shower and dressed before 0630 like normal so they could pick fruit for breakfast. Warren had already gone inside so none of the guards would know he'd spent the night out in the long-house. He wouldn't be linking up until 0730, and Amelia had heard Max tell Jake to be in the link room at 0800. Whether Grace liked it or not, Amelia was going to keep an eye on him. And if she could talk fast enough, Amelia could even tell Grace her idea. So she wanted Ava to be able to keep herself busy until Warren linked to his avatar.

She was dressing her daughter in her usual attire when she noticed the silver chain around her neck, and when she asked Ava about it, her daughter smiled. "Jake gave it to me," Ava said proudly. "He said it was his brother's."

Amelia was so surprised that she couldn't really say anything back. So she didn't.

But after she left Ava with a reading pad to make her way back into the lab, all Amelia could think about was the fact that Tom had probably had the necklace on him when he'd been killed. Which meant he'd had to buy it off the street. And that meant someone could have tried to take it from him. Was that why he'd been killed in the first place? Was his death her fault?

Amelia pushed that thought out of her mind as she stepped through the airlock to get to the lab. Too much time had passed for her to consider that, and she knew Tom wouldn't want her to blame herself for anything happening to him. She had other things to focus on even if they weren't anymore important to her than he'd been.

The link room was bustling even at 0700, and Amelia made herself aloof to the best of her ability so Max wouldn't be able to spot her as she waited for Grace. Warren came in while she was waiting, but they just nodded to each other before he climbed into his link bed and began his day. Grace came in after half an hour, towing the two new avatar drivers — Jake and Norm. Amelia watched from across the room, moving in and seeing Jake haul himself into his link bed for the first time. He refused to let anyone help him, and Amelia found that strangely admirable.

Amelia realized Grace was in a hurry to get outside, so she left the lab quietly, moving to the airlock as Norm and Jake were waking up in their avatars. She heard commotion but kept going, getting outside and moving around the basketball court as the door to the ambient room swung open to allow one of the new avatars in the court yard still wearing his gown.

"Jake!" she heard, looking to see the other new avatar who she now recognized as Norm running after Jake as he ran from there to the garden near the long-house.

Amelia smiled as she watched him. At least he was putting his new body to good use, and she could only imagine how good it felt to run after being in a wheel chair. She actually envied him a little — at least where the avatar was concerned.

She moved closer, listening to Grace make idle conversation with him and then move him inside where she was hoping Warren had Ava busy. It didn't look like Grace was going to let either of the new guys in on the situation with Ava, at least not yet. She figured she could wait until Norm and Jake were off doing motor exercises to talk to Grace about her idea, since she would need Grace to be alone to do that. If no one else knew what she wanted to do, no one could stop her. Until then, she had things she had to do, so she moved around the court yard so no one would pay attention to her.

It was noon before Amelia found Grace by herself, reading through reports from the day before, and she unconsciously looked around, noting where the guards were before she made her way to where Grace was pacing through the garden. The plants all towered over Amelia's head, so it was perfect camouflage.

"Grace, I need to talk to you," Amelia said, catching Grace's attention easily.

"Amelia, honey, where's Ava?" she asked in her usual monotone voice.

"Probably with Warren or Lisa. I have to talk to you," she pressed. "About Jake. I had an idea I wanted to run by you."

Grace sighed softly. "What is it this time, Amelia? I thought I told you not to think about talking to him."

"I know," Amelia exhaled. "And I thought of a way so I can see him but not have to actually be around him. So I'll be happy, and you'll be happy. And Ava can be safe."

Grace's mind seemed to work without Amelia saying anything, and she sighed heavily, facing Amelia and speaking severely. "Amelia, no," she said with finality. "I don't think that's a good idea. You don't know this man. Why is it so important for you to have any contact with him at all?"

"I won't be _having_ any contact with him at all," Amelia exclaimed. "But I can't just ignore him!"

"Why?" Grace pleaded.

"Would you expect me to ignore Tom when he got here?" Amelia demanded softly. "I know he's not Tom. That doesn't make him any less important. Please, Grace. You won't have to do much. Just send me his logs after he's gone to bed."

Grace shook her head. "Amelia, those are supposed to be private," she argued. "I can't violate his privacy like that."

Amelia steeled herself, clenching her fists. "Well, you wouldn't have to if you'd just let me talk to him," she griped, not caring if she sounded like a child.

Grace inhaled deeply, looking around the courtyard and shaking her again. "All right, fine," she conceded. "I'll see what I can do. I'm going out with him and Norm tomorrow, but I'll do my best. Now you go inside before someone sees you. And check on Ava. The last thing we need is for one of the new people to see her while we're still getting them settled in."

Amelia tried not to smile, turning to the long-house where she was sure Ava was still reading. At least there was a little hope there. At least she'd be able to see him every day, since she knew Grace would make him do it every night. She always did that with the new guys.

* * *

For a year and half, Colonel Miles Quaritch had been waiting for any opportunity like this. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't have seen a better opportunity if had shot up and bit him. With as much as Selfridge had started to whine about their output still going down steadily, this looked like the opportunity to get him to shut up. Now that he was looking at the records in front of him, he was thinking this kid was exactly who they needed to get the job done.

A year and a half earlier, Quaritch had tried to do this very thing with a member of the science team, but it obviously had not gone the way he'd expected or wanted. Warren Watson, son of General William Watson, had seemed like the perfect candidate, even with his limited military background. But he'd flatly refused to help them. And now that Quaritch was thinking about it, Watson probably hadn't been the perfect candidate after all. He'd been here too long. He'd been linking with that blue puppet of his for too long. He knew the rules, and he knew how far to nudge in the wrong direction before pulling back. Quaritch knew he would have gone to that crazy bitch doctor, and he would have warned those blue bastards. That would have been unacceptable.

But this kid, Corporal Jake Sully, looked promising. He'd actually been in the military, a marine who'd served in Venezuela before being discharged with a spinal injury. It was strange how the boys back home hadn't fixed him up, but it didn't really matter. Quaritch could use that to his advantage, especially since it looked like the kid didn't really have anyone else back home to call him family.

Quaritch left Sully's info in his office, searching the hangar for the one person he needed and finding her as she watched over some refits to her bird.

"Chacon," he called.

She turned to face him in green camo, a side arm strapped to her left thigh and a smile on her face. "Colonel," she acknowledged.

"You're still flying those science geeks in their little outings, aren't you, Major?"

"I am, sir," she nodded.

"I need you to find somebody for me," he told her, hoping she knew what was good for her by doing what she was told.

Once she was gone, Quaritch moved back to his office, which doubled as a weights mat where he sat on the bench press. He had a good feeling about this, thinking it could finally start to go their way for a change. Sully would be trained to do what he was told, regardless of why he was here, and if Quaritch could say the right things, he was absolutely certain he could get the kid to see things his way.

* * *

Warren was sitting in the mess hall with Grace and Lisa when he saw Trudy come in with what looked like a pointed expression on her face as she searched the crowd for someone. And when she moved toward their table, he thought she was coming to talk to him. But instead of heading toward him, she moved toward the other end of the table where Jake was sitting. Warren listened to Trudy tell Jake the Colonel was looking for him in the Armor Bay, and almost immediately, he looked at Grace. A year and a half earlier, he'd told her something like this would happen, and he could see from her expression that she wasn't too thrilled about it either.

But she didn't do or say anything. She scowled and grit her teeth, watching Trudy lead Jake out of the mess hall while everyone else there continued eating. Warren wanted to follow them, but he didn't need to. He knew what was going to happen. He wanted to hope Jake wasn't stupid enough to listen to anything the Colonel had to say, but he knew it was pointless. He remembered how the Colonel and Selfridge had tried to wrangle him into doing their dirty work for them, and after he'd refused to help them force any of the Clan out of their Home, they'd promptly released him from detention. But he knew it wasn't over. They were always going to want more of the mineral they were mining. It was the only inevitable thing he'd come to accept.

When Jake didn't return, Warren left the mess hall by himself, but not to follow anyone. He'd feared this above everything else, and Amelia needed to know what was going on. She needed to know that Jake couldn't be trusted, not with something like this, and certainly not with someone like Ava. The corridors that led him to his habitat were quiet, and as soon as he was inside, he closed and locked the door behind him. His video log, which had been set up like an internal transmitter so he could talk to Amelia when he couldn't be in the long-house with her, was setting up on his desk, and he sat down to turn it on as soon as he was inside his room.

Amelia answered his call as she got Ava ready for bed, and he told her what he'd seen and heard.

"I told you this would happen, Amy," he stressed. "I knew as soon as the shuttle got here he'd be looking into everyone to see who he could use like he tried to use me. And I don't trust this guy to be smart enough to say 'no'."

Amelia didn't look convinced. "Have you talked to him?" she asked hesitantly. "Maybe he'll surprise you."

"I don't have to talk to him, Amy," Warren scoffed. "I've seen him. The guy's in a wheelchair. And that's exactly the kind of thing Quaritch would take advantage of to get the job done. Now, you know me. You know I can usually tell a lot about a person just by looking at him. It's one of the reasons I wanted to trust his brother. But this guy is different. And I think you know that already."

The worried look on her face told Warren all he really needed to know, and he wished he was actually sitting out there with her telling her this instead of doing it through a video link.

"I'm not trying to worry you on purpose," Warren insisted. "And I'm not writing him off. But we have to be careful, Amy. We have to keep Ava from him. I know she's already seen him and talked to him, and I don't want her to start to getting curious about him. I think we both remember how curious she was about me."

Amelia nodded. "I remember." She paused, looking behind her. "Grace is taking him and Norm out tomorrow, but I'll talk to Ava. I don't know what good it will do, but I'll talk to her. I mean, you're right. He did just get here, and we don't know a lot about him just yet."

Warren thought about that for a minute, about Grace taking the two new guys out into the forest. He remembered her mentioning how Selfridge had been pushing for a diplomatic solution to the stand-off he'd gotten himself hung up on with the locals. He wondered if she was doing it now because she wanted to get the weasel off her back, or if she honestly wanted to make contact again because it had been so long since she'd seen her students.

"It's late," Amelia said, "but I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Warren exhaled heavily. "Okay. Get some sleep. I love you."

She smiled slightly. "I love you."

"Tell Ava to get a good night's sleep for me. We're gonna start back up tomorrow."

Amelia laughed. "Well, she'll be happy to hear that. Good night."

"Night."

Warren switched off his link then, sitting still for another few minutes and thinking of everything that had already happened. He didn't know if it was because of being in this place for so long, but Warren knew in his gut that something bad was going to happen. He knew it like he'd known something bad would happen at Grace's school, and look at how that had gone down. He knew Grace didn't want to believe it, but she knew it too.

And she knew no one would be able to stop it. After seeing her in the mess hall, he knew she couldn't do anything no matter how much she wanted to, because if she did, Selfridge would shut her down. Apparently, her research and her program were more important to her than the well-being of a native culture that had been here a lot longer than anyone really knew. If didn't mean she didn't care, only that she wasn't willing to risk tipping the balance either way.

But Warren couldn't ignore this. He couldn't look the other way while Selfridge and Quaritch ripped the Clan apart just for some stupid rock in the ground. He didn't know what he was going to do to counter it, if there _was _anything he could do. But sitting there that night made him very certain of it.

* * *

**All righty then! Now that Amelia and Jake are actually on the same celestial body, things should be a little interesting. I gotta say, writing this was NOT easy. I never really knew how difficult it would be to pick apart every part of the movie to see where Amelia could fit but still be invisible. I hope I did a good job.**

**Try not to hold Warren's attitude against him. I think his jealousy is starting to get the better of him, but he's male, so it's expected.  
**

**And I apologize for confusing anyone with the note at the top. Try not to hold a few of my short-comings against the story as it continues to unfold.**

**Only one definition this time around, but an important one as far as manners should go:**

**_Irayo_ - Thank you.**

**Until next time, Keep Calm & Carry On!  
**


	22. Collision Course II

**All right, my dear readers, here we go with a new chapter! It's amazing how much you can knock out when you have an immeasurable about of time on your hands and a DVD player you can manipulate! I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter, since some of these events should feel a little familiar. With this chapter, and the one I'm working on right now that will follow, I really tried to see what I could do with a few other people, besides Jake or Norm. Especially Amelia - whom this particular part is actually all about. I really liked writing her this time around, and I'm enjoying writing with her now. **

**So I hope you enjoy reading as much as I like writing. Now for more!  
**

* * *

_**Collision Course, Part II**_

Amelia turned off her video link, glancing back at Ava as she climbed into her hammock and wondering what she was supposed to tell her. Was she even supposed to tell Ava anything, even though it was obvious she was already attacked to this new person in her life? He'd already given her a gift, and Ava wasn't likely to ignore that even if Jake probably hadn't meant anything more than that. She hadn't told Warren, but Ava had already asked about Jake, and she wouldn't take off the necklace he'd given her.

"It's time for bed, Ava," Amelia told her.

"Can I read first?" her daughter requested.

"Not tonight," Amelia said softly, reaching her daughter's side and watching her get comfortable before she turned off the light above her head. "Good night, love," she whispered, touching her daughter's forehead gently. "Uncle Warren's going to be working with you tomorrow."

Ava breathed deeply, closing her eyes and turning on her side like she did when Warren laid with her. Amelia watched her daughter fall asleep, getting ready for bed herself before she drifted up into the main part of the long-house as it set silent.

There were now nineteen silent bodies laying in the long-house, and almost every bed was occupied. But Amelia was the most interested in the occupant laying in the bed toward the front of the house, near where Lisa still laid her avatar down. Though he'd been outside most of the day, Amelia had made Grace happy and remained indoors where he wouldn't see her. But the beauty of this was that she could look at him at night all she wanted, and no one could stop her.

She didn't know if it was fair or not, since she knew Jake wasn't his brother. But this _was_ Tom's avatar. Regardless of whether Jake could use it now because they'd been twins, the DNA they'd used to make this avatar had come from Tom. And even if Amelia didn't know if it was fair to still want to be close to him, she did know that as she found his bed and sat over the edge to be in front of him that this was the closest she was going to get.

Like she'd seen the day before, he had Tom's mouth and his chin. Jake's too. But up close, she could see the bioluminescent spots on his face and his stripes were more defined. His skin was smooth and still soft from the fluid he'd floated in for nearly six years. She could probably have sat there all night and stared at him, but she knew not to. She knew it wasn't Tom she was looking at, and she knew it didn't belong to Tom anymore. Now that Jake had linked with him, he belonged to Jake. No matter what Quaritch tried to offer Jake about his legs and anything like that, Amelia knew these were Jake's legs now. These were the beginning of his new life. She wasn't sure why she felt that way, but she just did.

She returned to her habitat with Ava before too much time could pass, lying in her bed away from Ava and thinking of everything Tom had ever said to her. She thought about everything he'd taught her, not just about himself, but Jake too. And she remembered all the things he'd helped her through — her conception of Ava being one of them. She fell asleep feeling all of her memories renewed and knowing for the first time in six years that no matter what happened, everything was going to be okay.

* * *

Amelia forced herself to sleep in passed 0900, since she knew that was when Grace was leaving with Jake and Norm, and she spent most of the day watching Warren teach Ava how to defend herself if the situation ever arose. She was less than half his size as he knelt beside her in his avatar, but a few times, she actually got off a few good punches. Amelia didn't want to think about what was going on with Grace. She didn't want to worry about what was going to happen when Grace got back.

But when Grace returned to the base with Trudy and Norm, and not Jake, Amelia was more worried than she had been since dreaming about Tom's death. In the last six years, she'd admitted to herself that was exactly what she'd done, especially since news of his death had come not a few hours later. Amelia hadn't felt this much dread since, but it was for a completely different reason. She wasn't afraid for Jake's life. She knew if anything happened to the avatar, Jake would just wake up in his link bed unharmed. But she was worried because Grace hadn't been able to look longer for a lost member of her team.

"So you just left him out there?" Amelia demanded, walking through the lab with Grace after she'd put her avatar down to get to the link room. Norm was unpacking in the long-house, giving Amelia a little time before he showed up.

"I didn't have a choice," Grace argued. "I would have kept looking if the sun hadn't been going down. But it's a jungle out there," she quipped. "And that idiot wandered off before we could see where he was. He got stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I tried to get him to safety. It's not my fault he got lost out there. Now where's Ava?"

Amelia sighed as they stepped into the link room. People were already clearing out, and none of them paid her much attention — not even Max, and he looked worried. "She's with Lisa. I'm sorry," she said grudgingly. "I know you did the best you could. But this has never happened before."

Grace scoffed. "Don't I know it? Get in the lab. I have to talk to Max."

Amelia left her there, moving into the lab but keeping an ear on the link room to hear what was going on.

"Max," Grace called. "What are his vitals?"

"Blood pressure's high," Max reported. "Temperature's leveling out, but heart rate in still high. Brain activity's good though. Controls are still holding. So that's a good sign. It means the avatar is okay."

"Right," Grace said with a sigh. "For now. Monitor him closely, Max. I don't want anything happening to him."

"No problem," Max agreed. "You know, I like this guy, but he sure is turning out to be a pretty big troublemaker," Max chuckled.

Grace didn't respond.

Amelia heard another link bed come off-line, and she heard Norm hurry from his link to where Grace was, listening to him panicking steadily.

"What are we going to do?" he asked. "Do we wait until he wakes up?"

"We don't really have a choice," Grace told him. "If we pull him out now, we'll lose the avatar. And this guy wasn't trained the way his brother was. We don't know what will happen to him if we pull him out of the link before he's ready. Just relax, Norm. We're all doctors here. Let's all stay objective. Okay?"

Norm exhaled loudly, and Amelia peeked around the corner of the doorway to see him clenching and unclenching his fists. "Okay. Right. Objective. I can do that."

"Why don't you help Max at the monitoring station?" Grace suggested. "I'll keep an eye on the link controls."

Amelia watched them move to their respective positions, catching Grace's eye and silently being told to go back outside. Amelia shook her head. There was no way she was going back out to the long-house without knowing for sure that Jake was okay. It wasn't just about the avatar anymore.

It must have been hours before anything else happened, and when Jake's link controls all started to come down, Grace, Max and Norm were the only ones left in the link room. Amelia waited just outside the doors, listening to them scramble around his link bed as he came out of his link, and when she peeked around the door frame, she saw them all hovering over the bed, watching the controls and waiting for him to fully disconnect from his avatar.

"Jake!" Grace yelled. "Jake! Come on back, kid! That's it."

"He's coming out of alpha," Max reported.

"That's it," Grace said softly. "You're okay." She chuckled. "You're okay. Come on," she said to Max and Norm as they helped Jake sit up. "Damn. You were dug in like a tick. Is your avatar safe, or did you get yourself killed out there?" she teased.

"I'm okay, doc," he confirmed. Then he laughed. "And you are not gonna believe where I am."

Grace was relieved. Amelia could tell from where she stood. While Jake told them what had happened to him after getting lost, Amelia could see Grace giving her sidelong glances there were hints that she needed to go back to the long-house before people started showing up again. Amelia didn't want to leave, but she knew she'd already been there long enough.

So with one last glance into the link room, Amelia made her way to the airlock to get back to the long-house where Ava was probably still sleeping. But she didn't lie down. She couldn't sleep. So she sat up the rest of the night, just thinking.

* * *

It was after breakfast when Grace came out into the courtyard in her avatar, and by then, Warren and Ava were sequestered inside their little "training" area while Amelia watched with a reading pad in front of her. Amelia knew Warren was only trying to teach Ava to protect herself, but when Grace got close enough, she made her displeasure with the practice very well known.

"You know I don't like her knowing how to hit people," Grace told Amelia, sitting next to her as Warren and Ava still worked. "She's not old enough for that. Na'vi children don't even learn to shoot with a bow and arrow until they're at least ten!"

"Ava's not your typical Na'vi child, Grace," Amelia reminded her. "And being on the base is precarious enough for her as it is. She knows not to hit first, but if some stupid guard catches her inside like they could have the other day, I want her to be able to get away without getting hurt. I don't think that's too much to ask."

It got quiet as they sat there, and Grace spoke softly after a few minutes. "He's with them now," she said. "The Omaticaya. Neytiri found him in the forest and took him back to Eytukan. He's says they're going to teach him their ways. I think she's going to kill him."

Amelia sat Grace's smile, but there was a longing in her eyes that Amelia could see just beneath the sarcasm. Amelia knew it had been too long since she'd seen any of her students, and she knew how much Grace wished she could go back there. For now, however, it looked like she was content teaching Ava and setting up things for her and Norm to do in Jake's "absence."

"Ava, honey, it's time for math," she called, to which Ava groaned loudly while Warren got up from his knees after she'd successfully taken him down for the third time.

But Ava didn't really protest, moving to the house and following Grace inside. Warren waited until they were gone to kneel in front of Amelia, whispering to her as he continued to catch his breath.

"She's learning so fast," he said proudly. "And I'm twice her size!"

Amelia smiled. "Then smaller prey should be no problem for her," she teased.

He chuckled softly. "Are you saying she's a predator now?"

"Of course," she insisted, taking his face in her hands and laying his forehead over hers. "Now she gets to stalk you like she's always wanted."

He laughed again, just once, kissing her gently and then whispering again. "I don't know if it's a good thing that he's with them now," he said of Jake. "I just want the two of you to be safe. Okay?"

Amelia nodded. "Okay."

"I wish I could sit out here with you like I used to," he said, still kissing her.

Amelia eased her arms around him, attempting to comfort him since she knew he still felt bad about attracting attention from Quaritch and Selfridge. "Think of it this way," she suggested. "You'll still be able to feel it when you wake up tonight and then tomorrow when you get out of bed."

He squeezed her against him. "Nothing beats the real thing," he promised.

Amelia laughed softly.

* * *

For eleven days, everything on the base went back to what felt like normal. Except for the fact that Jake was climbing into his link bed just after breakfast and not getting out until after dinner. Amelia made a point of being there early in the morning and late at night before she returned to the long-house to be with her daughter. And every night, when she sat down in front of her video link, Grace sent her a recorded feed of Jake's logs. It really wasn't until then that Amelia realized just how different he was from Tom, and it was obvious in his attitude toward the situation he'd found himself in. Amelia didn't know whether to be disappointed, but she couldn't pass judgment on him. He'd only been there for a week and a half.

Amelia wasn't the only one watching Jake, as it became obvious that Grace was watching him too, at least in the form of Max, and when Grace found out Jake was making regular trips to the Ops Center to report to Quaritch and Selfridge, she decided to put a stop to it real quick. Amelia couldn't blame her. Even though Grace seemed to want contact with the Clan more than she had since Ava had been born, she wasn't about to let the two goons running the base undermine her program.

"What are you going to do?" Amelia asked Grace while they were helping Ava with one of her reading lessons.

"I know what I'm _not_ going to do," Grace said certainly. "I'm not going to let this get out of _my _control. This is my program, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let those two jackasses decide how this plays out. At least for now."

"What are you going to tell Ava?" Amelia pressed. "Because you know she'll notice you not being here."

"We'll think of something, Amelia. I promise. But I have ability to affect change in this situation, and I'm not about to let anything bad happen that I could have prevented. At least not on an initial level. I mean, the damage has already been done. I'm just having to do damage control."

Amelia looked at Ava as she sat a few meters from them reading silently.

"We'll come up with some lessons for her," Grace suggested. "And we'll set up the video link so she can call me if she needs me. It'll be okay."

To that, Amelia said nothing. She just watched Ava read. After a few minutes, she spoke softly. "How long do you think you'll be gone?" she asked Grace.

"Well, I think they gave him three months, but there's no telling. Don't worry, Amelia," she said, laying a gently blue hand over Amelia's shoulder. "You'll know if something happens. I'll make sure of it."

"Is Trudy taking you?" Amelia asked of their intrepid pilot whom she still saw every week or so.

"Of course she is. But I'll see what I can do about her checking on you when she comes in for refits and supplies. Mostly, I'll be watching him," she said of Jake. "Somebody's got to make sure he doesn't screw this up beyond all recognition."

Amelia couldn't help but smile, but she knew how serious Grace was, especially where the Omaticaya were concerned. Amelia still remembered her time with them when she'd been pregnant with Ava, and she wished she could go back. But she was needed on the base to keep Ava safe, so that took precedent over wanting to see the children she'd come to love for the few months she'd gone there.

"I have to go," Grace said. "We're leaving in the morning, and I have to pack for two bodies. We should think of something to tell Ava before I leave in the morning, but maybe it won't be as difficult as we're thinking it will be."

"Keep your fingers crossed," Amelia said, gesturing to Ava where she was sitting silently with a pinched look on her face.

It became clear that Ava had been listening to them, but Grace didn't make her way to Ava's side. She simply stood up and left the habitat to pack her for her avatar before putting it down for the day so she could go inside and pack there too.

* * *

Without Jake on the base, things started to get back to normal — however much _out of normal_ they'd gotten in just over a week — at least as normal as things could be without Grace around to give Ava her lessons. It took a few days, but Grace was able to sequester herself in a small corner of the habitat module so she and Ava could talk at least once a day for whatever lessons she thought Ava was ready to learn. Warren also kept teaching Ava to defend herself, increasing the amount of time they spent on it since Grace wasn't around to keep Ava out of trouble.

As a matter of fact, the only real reminders Amelia had of Jake's presence were the late-night transmissions she would get sent to her video link after Ava was asleep. At first, Jake only talked about what he was being taught, commenting how there were a lot of things he didn't really see the point of learning and expressing an uninterested view of the meaning of it all. He mentioned Neytiri a lot, and Amelia was reminded of her time with the Omaticaya every night when she watched him document his time with them. It made her miss them all over again, even if it had been so long since she'd seen them.

It took a little more than a month, but Amelia started to see a change in Jake, the same way she'd seen in herself after being here for a few weeks. While he was learning to use a bow and arrow and ride a horse, he also began to listen to what Neytiri was telling him. He began to see what the people were really like, and Amelia only thought of how different the understanding made him look and sound. She didn't know what the time with the Clan was doing to his avatar, but she could see that having to split his time between two existences was starting to put a strain on him.

It wasn't difficult to know what the Colonel had asked him to do, since he talked about that a little too. He talked about how different it was to be working for something when he already knew what the end result was going to be. Either the People would move from their home and survive, or they would refuse to leave and die. It didn't look like he wanted to admit that it was going to happen, but he proceeded nonetheless.

Amelia saw a change in Grace too, when Jake was able to talk Mo'at into letting her back in the village. All Grace could talk about for days was how much all her students had changed and how much she'd missed them. Amelia was a little envious, since she hadn't seen anyone in the clan since before Ava had been born. But Grace made up for it by coming back to the base with Jake for Ava's birthday. Since her avatar was in Hometree, Grace decided it was okay for them all to have a private dinner in the mess hall at midnight so none of the security guards would know.

"She's just gotten so big," Grace said as she held Ava in her lap at the head of the table their small group was occupying. "I swear she's gotten half a meter taller in two months. I can't believe I've missed it. But I'll make it up to you," she promised Ava. "I talked to Mo'at, and she said she would consider sending someone Ava's size to see about getting her some proper training."

Amelia smiled at that, glancing at Warren before she spoke. "How's Neytiri?" she asked from Grace's right side.

"She starting to _not_ lose her patience with Jake," Grace said with a smile. "He's learning so fast, but I can tell she's making progress with him. Of course, I'm still having trouble getting him to listen, but all in good time."

Amelia knew from watching Jake's logs that he was making progress, but she could also see that he was starting to slip — if not effectively burning his candle at both ends to see this through. And she was worried about him.

"Trudy was telling me how Ava can tackle Warren now," Grace said with a chuckle. "How did that happen?"

Amelia was reminded of that particular practice session when Trudy had come back to the base alone for a couple of days and how Ava had moved up from pretending to hit to actually hitting Warren — sometimes in the gut when he really didn't tell her to do it. Trudy smiled from Amelia's side, remembering what Amelia was, and they both laughed.

"She's not tackling me," Warren protested. They all looked at him, and he blushed. "Okay, maybe she is tackling me. But it's a good thing. I promise."

Out of the corner of her eye, Amelia saw two figures glide into the room, and she almost immediately recognized Jake in his wheelchair as a taller guard pointed in their direction. She nodded at Grace, and the older woman deftly handed Ava to Warren as his back faced the doors before she rose to make her way across the mess hall. Amelia watched them talk, but she only heard a little of what was being said, noting the contentment fade from Grace's face to being guarded as she stood between Jake and the rest of the room.

"I thought you'd be sleeping after the long flight," she said to Jake.

"Well, I was tired, but I'm hungry," he argued. "One of the guys in the science lab said you were here. It's okay if I join you, right? Since we're not supposed to be hiding anything."

Grace inhaled deeply, glancing back at the table where Ava had already been moved to the end of the table out of Jake's view. "I just think it's better for you to get some rest," she insisted. "You've been burning too hard lately, and the sleep will do you good."

Amelia stood up slowly. "Grace," she called, "it's okay."

Grace looked at her, pleading silently but then giving in as she led Jake across the room to where everyone was sitting. "Everybody remembers Jake," she announced. "You know, the hermit who lives in his link bed."

Everyone laughed, and Helen stood up to find Jake something to eat. Ava was already partially hidden inside Lisa's arms, but Amelia could already see her smiling in Jake's direction. Amelia silently prayed her daughter wouldn't draw any attention to herself, even if it was obvious she wanted to be closer to Jake.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Jake said as Helen set a plate of fruit in front of him. "Looks like you guys were havin' a party or somethin'."

"It's fine," Grace said. She gave Amelia a hard stare, but she didn't say anything else.

Jake took his plate graciously, his hair a couple of inches longer than it had been two and a half months earlier when he'd left and the beginnings of a beard growing since he hadn't shaved in that time either. But Amelia couldn't take her eyes off him, even as she glanced at Lisa and then Warren.

"I was just telling everyone about what it's like to be back with the clan," Grace continued. "And I'm sitting here making a lot of them jealous. Only a few of us have been there, and I was telling them how much everyone's changed."

Jake nodded, eating his food silently.

"Surely, you have stories you can tell us," Helen prompted, glancing at Amelia. It seemed like everyone knew she was watching him — everyone but him.

"I like to run," Jake said simply. "I like to hit painted leaf targets, and I like to fall on my ass every day. I'm sure I've impressed Grace with how fast I'm learning everything," he said, flashing a smile and deep dimples in her direction.

"Yeah, I'm impressed you haven't gotten trampled by a herd of hammerheads yet," she quipped. "Don't start getting cocky now. You've still got a long way to go, marine."

"Neytiri says I'm almost ready to make my first kill," he beamed. "You tell me if I should be cocky or not."

Grace glanced at Amelia again, making as small a gesture as she could that they needed to get Ava outside before Jake saw her. Though she didn't want to leave, Amelia knew how important it was for Ava to be safe. And she unwillingly agreed with Grace, bowing her head.

"Well, I've got to go," she said, rising slowly. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Jake looked at her like he was supposed to know her, but he didn't say anything, returning to his food as she moved along the end of the table and gathered Ava up from Lisa's lap. She whispered to her daughter to be quiet while they walked, and Ava reluctantly obeyed, looking over her shoulder as she was led out of the mess hall away from Jake.

"Mama," she said as soon as they were alone. "Why can't I talk to him?"

Amelia sighed softly. "Aunt Grace doesn't think it's safe now. Give it a little time, please, baby? Maybe she'll change her mind once things are a little more settled."

"But he didn't hurt me before," Ava pleaded. "He gave me my necklace. Why would he not be safe for me?"

"Honey, I'm pretty sure he didn't know what you were when he saw you the first time. Please just trust me, okay, sweetie?"

Ava hung her head low as they made it to the airlock, and Amelia held her daughter loosely feeling her tail wrap itself around her arm. She smiled, allowing the airlock to cycle before they both stepped out into the open air. None of the guard towers were alive with actual activity, and it was easy to walk across the courtyard to the long-house where all the other avatars were resting. She pulled Ava to their habitat, getting her ready for bed and laying her down before she turned on her own video log.

After that was finished, she laid down thinking about what Jake had done so far and knowing what was supposed to come next. She silently prayed for his safety, falling into a dreamless sleep for the first time in several weeks.

* * *

Three and a half weeks passed without anyone really paying attention to how fast time was going by, and even Amelia was overwhelmed with the events that took place. While Grace was in the village to keep an eye on Jake, there were certain things he did that she didn't have any control over — him making his first kill, climbing into the mountains to tame a banshee and being taken to the Tree of Souls among many of them. Despite his progress, she couldn't keep him from reporting back to Quaritch, but for over two weeks, neither he nor Grace made it back to the base for any reason.

Amelia could see in Jake's eyes that he knew he'd come too far to stop, no matter what anyone told him, and even though Grace expressed concern, he did everything he could to integrate himself into the Clan, and it started to wear him thin — literally. His logs only made him look more tired and strung out than he actually was, and Amelia knew what it felt like to lose the conviction it took to do what he was doing. She could see a different desire in his eyes than just finishing what he'd started. It was almost like he'd found his place and didn't want to let it go. Amelia knew how dangerous that could be.

"_It's hard to believe it's only been three months. I can barely remember my old life. I don't know who I am anymore. I don't know what I'm doin' out here. What am I doin' out here? Make the People leave Hometree? Make a deal? They're not gonna leave their home. They're not gonna make a deal. For what, for light beer? And blue jeans? There's nothing we have that they want. Everything they sent me out here to do is a waste of time. They're never gonna leave Hometree."_

* * *

When Grace and Jake did make it back to the base and after they both went their separate ways to make their respective reports, Amelia made a point of following Jake. She didn't know how feasible it was to make sure he did the right thing. She'd been worried he was going to do something selfish, but based on his log, she knew it was too late. Amelia knew about being selfish. She could still remember all the times since she'd had Ava that she wanted to leave the base to stay with the Clan, but after what had happened at the school, it simply hadn't been possible. Grace had accepted it a long time ago, even though it seemed like she was happy for the first time in years. Amelia didn't know if it would last, but she knew Jake was playing with powers he didn't understand. And she knew people were going to get hurt because of it.

Jake waited for Quaritch in the mess hall for a little while, but Amelia stayed hidden, peeking on him every few minutes and watching him sit there quietly. She wanted to sit with him while he waited, but she knew she couldn't. He wasn't a part of her life, not the way Tom had been. And it wasn't her place to be near him.

And then Quaritch showed up.

"Haven't gotten lost in the woods, have you?"

Amelia listened to them talk, listened to Quaritch talk about how well Jake was doing and how much he knew it was going to come down to fight between them and the Na'vi. She'd always disliked the way he talked like all he wanted to was to shoot first and ask questions later. It always unnerved her how willing the Colonel was to dismiss anything significant about this place. It was just another mission to him. There was nothing important here to him besides the base and its survival. Seemingly honorable, but blatantly disrespectful and blind. Which Amelia guessed would make him like most of the people on the base. But not like Jake. Or Grace.

Jake argued with Quaritch about leaving, expectedly so. Amelia already knew he didn't want to leave the Clan. Through all his hard work and perseverance, he'd actually become attached to this place like she had, and he wasn't doing a very good job of hiding it. But when Jake talked about having to do one more thing to make his mission a success, Amelia knew he was lying. She knew he'd already given up, and the fact that he stared Quaritch in the eyes while he did it meant that he knew exactly what he was doing and didn't think the consequences would be as bad as they could be. It meant he didn't care about the base anymore.

"It's the final stage of becoming a man," Jake told Quaritch. "If I do it, I'm one of them. And they'll trust me. And I can negotiate the terms of their relocation."

The Colonel didn't say anything at first, and Amelia peeked around the doorframe, seeing him stand and turn to leave before he spoke again.

"Well, then you better get it done, Corporal," he pressed. Amelia could hear the disappointment in his voice, and even from where she was, she could see the disgust on his face. No matter what Jake had said, the Colonel knew something wasn't right. At this point, it was probably a good deal to bet that he knew Jake was lying.

Amelia left as soon as she saw Jake turn in her direction, and she made it to science lab before too much time could pass. She didn't know what was going to happen next, but she knew it wasn't going to be good. And on top of that, she knew she had to break her daughter's fascination with Jake. She knew he would only end up hurting Ava.

It was raining outside when Ava stepped out of the airlock, but she didn't let that bother her, looking around the courtyard as it set empty and then moving toward the long-house as it set silent. Since Grace had been away from the base, Helen and Lisa had taken over everyone's schedules, so it would be easier to keep everyone out of trouble. And when the weather was less than desirable, they put their avatars down earlier to get work done inside the lab. Warren was spending a little more time out here after laying his own avatar down, and with Grace being here today, Amelia wasn't surprised to see Ava in her lap with a reading pad on the front porch.

"_How still the room was as they listened breathlessly_," Ava read softly from the pad, "_how strangely the day darkened outside, and how suddenly the whole world seemed to change, as the girls gathered about their mother, feeling as if all the happiness and support of their lives was about to be taken from them._"

"Ava," Amelia called, and they both looked up from the pad. "It's time for bed."

"What's wrong, Amelia?" Grace asked even as she stepped onto the porch and moved to pull Ava to her feet.

"It's time for her to go to bed," Amelia pressed, pulling her daughter through the long-house. "And it's time for her to take off that necklace. It's done nothing but put unnecessary thoughts and feelings into her head that will only make her vulnerable later in her life."

While she hadn't protested to her mother cutting her reading short, when Ava heard that, she pulled her hand from her mother's immediately. "No," she said defiantly. "It was a gift, and it's bad luck to refuse a gift."

Amelia turned to her daughter. "Avamelia Darrin Shaw, take off that necklace. I don't want you to wear it anymore. The man who gave it to you didn't do it because he understood what you are. He probably did it out of pity or some other useless human emotion. He's just going to end up hurting you!"

"Amelia, please calm down," Grace interrupted. "There's no reason for you to be upset. It's just a necklace."

"And he's just a selfish, useless man," she yelled, reaching for the necklace around Ava's neck and yanking it off. It broke, and Amelia threw it to the ground. "I don't want you thinking about him ever again. He doesn't care about you. It seems like he doesn't care about anything but himself anymore."

"Amelia," Grace pleaded. "What's wrong?"

"Ask your Clan infiltrator!" she screamed, refusing to speak his name. "Maybe now he'll tell you what he's been doing out there."

Ava knelt to the floor, picking up her necklace as Grace spoke.

"I know what he's been doing out there," she told Amelia calmly. "And while I don't agree, you're wrong. Because he's not selfish. Not anymore. He cares about those people out there, just like you do. I actually think it was a mistake now to keep Ava away from him."

"Three and a half weeks ago, you didn't want her anywhere near him," Amelia argued. "What happened?"

"You've been watching his logs, Amelia. You know what's happened. Now, I don't know what you heard or saw to bring this on, but Jake isn't the bad guy here. It's that bastard Quaritch and Selfridge."

"Then what am I supposed to do when my daughter wears something he gives her like it's a badge of honor?" Amelia pleaded. "Because he's hurting her without even being here! What am I supposed to do?"

Ava stood up with her necklace without saying anything to them, backing away and then running out of the long-house into the rain.

"Ava!" Amelia shouted.

She started to go after her, but Grace stopped her.

"Amelia, listen to me," she pleaded. "Do you remember how I treated you when you first got here? Do you remember how much I didn't want you here because if people found out what you were here to do, it would completely undermine my entire program?"

Amelia sighed softly. "I remember. I also remember you saying the same thing about him," she reminded Grace.

"That's right. But I'm not saying it now. Jake doesn't want this to end in blood, not like Quaritch. I'll admit it's taken him getting knocked around by a very persistent Na'vi princess, but he gets it now. He wants this to end peacefully."

"No," Amelia argued. "He doesn't. He doesn't want it to end at all."

She stepped around Grace to leave the long-house, hurrying after Ava and discovering her in the garden with Warren as he sat next to her. Amelia could hear her daughter crying, and when she was close enough, Warren spoke.

"She fell down," he said softly. "I think she's bleeding, but she won't tell me. Why is she crying?"

Amelia didn't answer him, kneeling at her daughter's other side. "Ava, honey, are you okay?"

Ava inhaled deeply, lifting her eyes to her mother's but still not saying anything. Amelia didn't really need her to say anything.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, sweetie," she said quietly, touching Ava's face. "But I just don't want you to get hurt. Not just on the outside, but on the inside too. I know you don't understand, but please just trust me. I love you, and all I want is for you to be safe."

Still, Ava said nothing, and Warren spoke softly. "We should get her inside. The guards are still on break, but the next shift is up in ten minutes."

Amelia nodded, and he moved forward, lifting Ava in his arms and carrying her back to the long-house where Grace was still waiting. But none of them said anything, moving to the habitat so Warren could take a look at Ava's legs.

* * *

For the next week it seemed, Amelia tried to be liberal with her daughter, allowing her to roam to courtyard during the day even though Ava had never been allowed to do that before. She knew she was losing her battle with her daughter's emotions and connections to the people around her, and it wasn't easy. Often Amelia would find Ava up in the tallest tree of the courtyard, still well-hidden from the guards' tower but able to see over the top of the fence into the forest. Amelia never asked what she was doing up there, but it didn't matter. Ava came down every night and still slept in her hammock. It seemed like everything was okay.

Grace still called for Ava every day, and they still read over the video link while Norm was out of the habitat module taking samples and readings on the experiments they'd begun outside. But she and Amelia never really talked after that night, either because they didn't know what to say or didn't want to make the situation worse. But Amelia knew how ironic it was that they were now on opposite sides of their causes to where they'd started out three months earlier.

Warren made a point of staying with Ava every night, laying his avatar down when everyone else did and then leaving the lab during the shift change in the guards' tower so none of them would see him. He and Amelia also never talked about that night, but he knew why she didn't want to talk about it, and he never argued with her over it. He only wanted to help Ava. And when Ava started wearing her necklace again after a week, he explained himself to Amelia.

"I had to fix it for her," he told her that night. "She was so hurt, and I couldn't stand seeing her like that. I don't like Jake, or what he's doing, but if Ava's this attached to him now, then I can't ignore it. I thought if he wasn't here, she'd forget about him. But she hasn't."

Amelia watched her daughter sleeping after a long day in the courtyard, knowing Warren was only doing what he thought was right. "I just don't want her to get hurt," she said for what felt like the hundredth time. "All I want is for her to be safe."

"I know that, Amy," he said, making her look at him. "But sometimes, we have to think about what's going to make her happy too. And if the thought of him giving that to her makes her happy, then I'm willing to risk her holding onto it. Even if she never sees him again. Maybe after all the craziness is over, we can show her to him properly and let him decide what to do."

Amelia didn't like the sound of that, but she didn't argue as she stood there in his arms. The video link flashed on behind them, and Grace's voice called to them both.

"You kids aren't doing anything in there I shouldn't be seeing, are you?" she called.

Amelia smiled at Warren, turning to the video link and moving to sit down as she turned on her recorder. Recognition eased over Grace's face, and the older woman smiled.

"Ahh. Good timing, I see. Ava asleep?"

"Just now," Warren said.

"What's happening?" Amelia asked.

"He did it," she gushed like a proud mother. "He survived. I didn't think he could do it, but he did. I haven't been this proud since Ava was born. He's done something no avatar has ever done before. I honestly can't believe this is happening, but I wanted you to know. I think everything's going to be okay."

"No avatar's ever done what he did in three months," Warren added, smiling slightly. "Did he tell you what it's like?"

"He's still in his link," Grace explained, "but I'm pouncing him as soon as he gets out. Listen, Amy, honey, I know we haven't talked a lot in the last week, and I know this is probably the most ironic situation I've ever been in, but I really think it's all going to work out now. I'm not saying it won't be hard, but maybe we can get a little more time from Selfridge now that Jake's been accepted. Maybe we can fly Ava out here so everyone can see her. I don't know when, but that's all in good time. I just wanted you to know."

Amelia looked at Warren and then back at Ava as she slept. Then she looked at Grace. "We'll talk about it when you come back," she told the older woman who'd become like her mother, argumentative with all the trimmings. "Do you know how long it'll be?"

"No, but I'll call you. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, Grace."

"Amy," she said softly. "I love you and Ava. You know that right?"

Amelia smiled. "I know. Good night."

"Night. You two get to bed. Sleep."

Grace turned off her video link, and then Amelia did. But for several seconds, neither she or Warren moved.

* * *

Though dreams were not uncommon for Ava, the dream she had the night, after her mother and Warren went to bed thinking she was already asleep was unlike any dream she'd ever had in her young life. Ava wasn't a stranger to vivid dreams, but she knew nothing of pain or suffering. It wasn't a part of her life, and that was simply the way things were for her. For most of her life, she'd been sheltered, and it didn't look like that was going to change. But her dream that night exposed her to the worst pain she'd ever felt in her life.

She'd never been where her mother had been, not really, but she had the ability to see it in a way her mother couldn't. In the last week, that's what she'd been doing — Seeing as none of the others around her possibly could. It wasn't her place to tell them what she did. So she kept it to herself. The trees spoke to her that night, allowing her to see a place where many things were supposed to be possible. One of those things unfortunately happened to be the feeling of having a blade scrape its way over her very skin. It chopped and skid and ripped at every centimeter of her body, causing her to scream and cry louder and harder than she ever had. She begged for the pain to stop, but it persisted, intensifying slowly along the raw nerves of her senses.

Mingled in with the pain were slivers of pure joy and happiness, but it wasn't enough to make it stop. It wasn't enough to make her feel anything else. Even the ancient, calming voice wasn't enough to make it cease, despite its plea.

"_Be calm, 'ewan'aw,"_ it commanded. _"Your pain is my pain. But it will end soon. Listen to your heart. Listen to me. We will not lead you astray. I will not leave you though you will never see me before your eyes. Focus on the one thing you know is stronger than this suffering being placed on your shoulders. Only then will your fears fade from your mind."_

Suddenly, Ava saw a face in her dream, a man's face, with dark hair and blue eyes. She knew this face, but it wasn't the one she expected. This face was different even though it was the same. The man smiled at her, comforting her and making her pain fade slowly. He reassured her of everything good in her life and promising everything would work out for the better. She didn't know his name, but when she looked at him again, she knew who he was. Even if she would never meet him, she knew he would always be with her.

* * *

Amelia woke the next morning with an idea of what she was going to be doing, allowing Ava to sleep in while she made her way to the lab to make herself busy. Even without Grace on the base, there were still enough people who knew her and gave her things to do so she could help out whenever she could. Every now and then, Amelia actually liked working in the lab, looking at samples and checking for results on the experiments they were always running. This morning would be no different.

So when Grace, Norm and Jake came wandering into the lab at nearly 0730 hours, Amelia was surprised to see her with the most defeated look on her face — like something inside her had died. And then she saw four RDA security guard file in after them. A few of the people in the lab already seemed to know what was going on, but Amelia moved around to Grace's side slowly, garnering her attention easily even as they moved around the guards.

"What's going on?" Amelia asked urgently.

"Parker shut us down," Grace informed her unemotionally. "We have to get everything packed up. Where's Ava and Warren?"

"Ava's outside. Probably still sleeping. I think Warren was outside with her the last I saw." Amelia paused, her eyes finding Jake. "What happened to make him shut everything down?"

"Something I thought was avoidable up until this morning," Grace hedged. "I can't believe I honestly thought we were going to get a chance to do the right thing here. But they bulldozed that a sacred site on purpose, to get a reaction. They knew exactly what they were doing. They wanted us to fail from the very start."

"What are we going to do about Ava?" she pleaded, processing this new information quickly. "Grace, she —"

"Ava will be safe," Grace swore. "I won't let anything happen to her. So far we've done a good job of keeping her away from the security, but it won't last if this gets worse. Now, if you're not going to leave, see if you can help Helen or Lisa get everything packed up."

"What are you going to do?"

Grace didn't answer her, still dazed as she moved further into the lab.

Amelia tried to make herself busy, following Helen through various parts of the lab while the security guards stood around to make sure everything was being packed away. Grace, Norm and Jake didn't help much with the packing, and Amelia saw the same defeated looks in Norm and Jake's eyes.

She didn't understand how this could happen. Sure, the bulldozers had demolished a sacred site, and Amelia knew the Na'vi would retaliate. After what had happened at the school, it was inevitable, but why shut down the program? And why was Grace here now? There was so much Amelia didn't know.

The next hour passed hurriedly as people milled around moving things into boxes, and Amelia wasn't sure how much she'd packed away, but all of it faded away the moment she saw Trudy running into the lab, dressed in her full flight gear and carrying her helmet as she stopped where Grace had settled.

"Quaritch is rolling the gunships," she panted, and Grace was on immediate alert, finding Amelia with her eyes. "He's gonna hit Hometree!"

Grace flashed a urgent expression in Amelia's direction, rising quickly and leaving the lab with Jake in tow. It didn't take much interpretation to know what Grace wanted, and Amelia glanced at Helen.

"I'll be right back," she said nonchalantly to keep the guards from noticing her as she slowly moved to the back of the lab where the airlock was currently unattended.

She cycled through it quickly, leaving the airlock before a minute could pass and hurrying to the long-house where Warren was sitting hidden in the garden with Ava. He looked at her as she got to them, rising quickly.

"What's happening?" he asked. "Everybody just got out of their links."

"Something's happened near Hometree," she told him. "I'm not sure what, but it pissed Selfridge off enough to shut down the program. And now Quaritch is getting ready to attack the village. It's not safe for Ava to be out here. There are guards all over the lab!"

Warren pulled Ava to her feet, lifting her in his arms and hurrying to the long-house with Amelia behind him. "What did Grace say she was going to do?" he asked moving to a video link and switching it on.

"I don't know if she can do anything," Amelia told him dreadfully. "Do you honestly think the people will listen to anything Jake says after he tells them what he did?"

Warren sighed softly, initializing the other end of the link and instantly seeing inside the lab as people still milled around. Suddenly, a line of people filed through the doors to the link room, and he switched channels, watching as Grace, Norm and Jake all moved to the link beds while Selfridge and the four security guards all moved into place around them.

"_Calibrate fast,"_ Grace shouted. _"We're going in. Right now."_

"_Calibrating three and four!"_

Grace slid smoothly into her link bed, and Jake followed as Selfridge stepped up beside him.

"_You got one hour,"_ the weasel warned Jake. _"Unless you want your girlfriend in there when the axe comes down, you get them to evacuate. One hour!"_

Amelia lifted her eyes to Warren's. "Girlfriend?" she repeated. "What did he do?"

Warren exhaled heavily, shaking his head as he spoke. "Damn it, I knew this would happen," he exclaimed. "Son of a bitch actually integrated himself so deep he took a mate. What the hell was he thinking?"

"Took a mate? Is that what caused all of this?"

"It's very damn well likely."

"Mama, what's going on?" Ava asked, confusion and a small bit of fear laced through her voice.

They both looked at her, and Warren stood up straight.

"I'm gonna go inside," he said. "So they won't come looking for me. Stay out here," he pleaded, grasping her hand and then kissing Ava's forehead before he hurried outside to get back to the lab.

"Mama," Ava said again. "What's happening?"

Amelia sighed softly, pulling her daughter to her lap and returning to watch the video link as footage from the gunships cued up on the monitors above the link controls station.

* * *

Warren slipped into the lab almost completely unnoticed since most of the others were all standing around the link room watching Quaritch's battalion of gunships fly toward Hometree. Lisa noticed him ease into the link room, and she moved back to his side slowly, whispering.

"Where's Amy and Ava?" she asked urgently.

"Outside, in the long-house. They're safe. What's going on?" he pressed, glancing around the room at the security guards.

"Jake was accepted into the clan last night. The bulldozers made it to the glade this morning. They demolished _Utral Aymokriyä_! Leveled it to the ground," she hissed, glancing around herself before she went on. "Jake was there with Neytiri, and he damaged one of the bulldozer's cameras. Quaritch was pissed. He took a group up to the remote camp and disconnected Jake and Grace without even thinking about it! Grace is in there trying to get through to the Clan now, but honestly, I don't know if she'll be able to do it."

Warren huffed softly, still shaking his head. "Jesus, this is crazy," he exclaimed quietly. "No wonder Selfridge shut everything down. Have you talked to anyone else since this started?"

"Just Max. Why?"

Warren trained his eyes on Norm and then Max, speaking softly. "You know what this means for Ava. We might have to get her off the base. Soon."

Lisa didn't respond, returning her attention to the monitors above the controls station where everyone else was looking with a mixture of hope, fear and dismay.

* * *

**I know we all know what happens next, at least for the most part. Don't we? What if we'd seen it all from someone else's perspective? I'm actually working kind of feverishly on this upcoming part, since it's the most important to the rest of the story. I want to make sure everyone reading remembers this: this isn't just filler. It's important to quite a few characters who we've already met and will meet in the future.**

**Not so many definitions this time, but good ones:**

**_'ewan'aw_ - young one (This is something the voice in Ava's dream calls her. Can we guess who the voice is?)**

_**Utral Aymokriyä -**_** The Tree of Voices (We should all know where this is.)**

**And the quote Ava reads is from Little Women, chapter 15, page 186.**

**Until next time, which hopefully won't be long from now, Keep Calm & Carry On!  
**


	23. Collision Course III

**All righty, people! Here we go! The last "flash-back" if you will. This will only wrap up all the parts of the story that took place before the beginning of the story. It does not by any means wrap up any of the stories of the characters involved. I tried to show what happened from other perspectives other than Jake's, and I also wanted to incorporate it with the characters I created so they could blend in but not necessarily change the make-up of what actually happened. It was not easy! Try picking apart your favorite book or your favorite television show to see the little bits that could be embellished on.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading the little intricacies of this last stroll down memory lane. I wanted to thank you all for coming along this journey with me since I know "flash-backs" can sometimes turn out to be a waste of time. I promise you in _this_ instance, it is not a waste of time.**

**So without further ado. Read On!  
**

* * *

_**Collision Course, Part III**_

For an hour, Amelia was literally on the edge of her seat as she sat in the long-house with Ava in her lap, watching the inside of the link room where most of the science team was waiting and also watching the monitors that showed them what was happening. It didn't take long for Quaritch and his gunships to make it to Hometree, and even though Amelia didn't know whether Jake and Grace were succeeding or not, the instant the massive canopy of Hometree appeared on the monitors, she knew nothing good was about to happen. Grace and Jake had run out of time.

Even where Amelia was sitting and watching from outside, she saw the monitors zoom in on Grace and Jake as they stood bound to a hostage post. And without a moment's passing, Quaritch fired gas rounds into the base of Hometree, causing several, if not most of the people inside to scatter in every direction. The hunters on the ground surrounding Jake and Grace all opened fire on the ships above their heads, releasing arrow after arrow at the hulls but having them bounce right off.

"Mama, why are those ships attacking that tree?" Ava asked softly.

Amelia didn't know what to say, watching in horror as nearly all the gunships released incendiary rounds on the base of the trees.

"Mama, no!" Ava cried.

Amelia held onto her daughter tighter, feeling tears in her own eyes as she watched helplessly. She wished Warren was here, but she forced herself to remain sat down. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, feeling the worst pain in her chest and her stomach. She felt sick for the first time in six years, since being told about Tom's death, and at that time, she'd been nearly ten and a half months pregnant. She'd felt so alone, and now she felt even worse. She felt useless, wishing desperately that she'd said or done something that could've prevented this but knowing it probably wouldn't have done any good.

The gunships surrounding Hometree moved in formation, barely waiting a few seconds before they opened fire again, this time releasing missiles and hitting the outer columns of the tree in quick succession.

"Mama, the people in the tree!" Ava wailed, reaching out for the monitor with a trembling hand.

"I know, baby," Amelia whispered, turning her daughter from the monitor and trying to comfort her as best as she could while she still watched. She had to see all of it to the end, even if she knew she didn't want to.

For probably half a minute, the gunships emptied their missiles on Hometree, weakening it significantly and stopping with just enough time to watch as the massive structure began to tip over. Horror was replaced with terror and sadness as she was reminded of the people on the ground who probably didn't know which direction to run or whether to run at all. Smoke billowed from the base of the tree as it fell, taking down the trees around it and hitting the ground in a cloud of leaves, splintered wood and ash.

Amelia couldn't keep herself from completely losing her composure, her breath catching in her throat even as she heard Selfridge speak again.

"_Pull the plug."_

Amelia didn't need to see anymore, rising from the chair and lifting Ava in her arms despite her size to carry her back to the habitat. She'd seen enough to know there was nothing good that could come from it. She'd wanted to believe everything would be okay. She'd tried to have hope that it would all work out for the best. But there was nothing good about this, and it wasn't okay anymore.

She carried Ava to her hammock, laying her down as she still cried and whispering to her softly.

"Baby, I need you to stay out here for me, okay?" she pleaded. "I need you to stay out of sight for now, please? I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I want Aunt Grace," Ava cried.

"I know, sweetie," Amelia assured her. "I'll try to find her. But please, Ava, stay out here. Please."

She barely gave Ava enough time to accept her plea, rising and hurrying out of the long-house to get back to the airlock so she could find Warren. She had to know what they were going to do now, and it didn't matter to her now if she got hurt in the process. The only thing that mattered now was Ava, and she was willing to bet that Warren felt the same way.

It was easy to find Warren as he moved around the lab with Lisa packing up more equipment. When he saw Amelia step into the lab slowly, he nodded to Lisa and hurried to her side.

"Are you and Ava okay?" he whispered urgently.

"No," she hissed. "Not even in the slightest. Where's Grace?"

"In custody," he informed her, looking around even though most of the security guards were now gone. "Selfridge had her detained with Jake and Norm when he pulled them out of their links. They're in the detention center now. Is Ava scared?"

"Are you kidding?" Amelia exclaimed softly. "She's terrified. She just watched all that, and she wants Grace. What am I supposed to tell her?"

Warren sighed heavily, looking around again and then moving Amelia into a hidden corner of the lab. "I don't know, but we can't let her inside. The guards are getting restless, and we're all pretty sure what Quaritch is going to do next. I don't think it's feasible to get Ava away from the base now. Not with the asshole itching to get back in the air. But we have to get Grace out of the detention center. She's the only one who can get through to the Clan."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Amelia demanded. "I technically don't exist here, and you're still at the top of Quaritch's list of people to harass at every opportunity."

"Trudy came back early from the attack," Warren revealed. "I don't think she took part in it, but I don't know what her flight status is. I was going to head over to the hangar to find her. If I can't get in there, she can. And she can get them out of here. We'll deal with Ava when the time's right. And that isn't now, Amy. Not by a long shot."

"Then we should go now. I'll come with you."

He didn't argue with her, pulling her out of the lab without the guards still there noticing and hurrying through the base to get to the staging hangar where all the pilots usually kept their planes.

* * *

The staging hangar wasn't as empty as Warren had hoped it would be, especially with most the pilots returning from their "excursion." But he found Trudy, even if he couldn't exactly walk up to her and then tell her what he wanted. With Amelia behind him, he had to use a different method to get her attention as she dutifully ran a series of checklists from what appeared to be the control tower while she was walking through the hangar alone.

Using two pieces of discarded metal, he used their shiny surface to signal her from a dark corner of the hangar, and after she looked around to make sure no one was watching her, she hurried to his side, whispering urgently.

"What are you two doing in here?" she demanded. "Someone could see you."

"We need to talk," Warren said. "About what happened this morning, and Ava. And we can't do it here."

She looked around again, pushing both of them further into the shadows of the hangar. "I can't leave," she told them.

"What happened when you got back?" Amelia asked her.

She sighed heavily, folding her checklist pad in her arms. "After I broke formation this morning, Quaritch grounded me. Until further notice. But, uh, there was no way I was gonna help him do that. I came here to fly, not kill or oppress the people who live here. And after everything that's happened with . . . all this, it just felt wrong. I heard Grace and Jake were detained. Is Norm with them?"

"They're _all _in detention," Amelia exclaimed. "And this place is not safe for Ava."

"It's not safe for Grace either," Warren told Trudy. "We need to figure out a way to get her off the base."

"Jake needs to go with her too," Amelia added, even though he looked at her. "And since Norm is in there, isn't there a way to get them all out?"

"Yeah, maybe we can bake a file into a cake and deliver it to them?" Trudy cracked, though her expression proved she wasn't amused by the idea.

"This is serious," Amelia hissed. She looked around the hangar again. "We _really_ need to get out of the hangar. We have to talk about this somewhere else. Please."

Trudy looked around again, putting her pad away and then sighing softly. "All right, fine. Let's hurry before anybody sees the two of you."

Warren led the way, pulling Amelia behind him as Trudy followed them out of the hangar before any of the other pilots noticed her gone.

Ava was still in her hammock when Warren and Amelia stepped into the long-house with Trudy trailing them with her eyes all over the courtyard outside. The instant Trudy stepped into the habitat, Ava jumped out of her hammock and ran to the pilot's side.

"Trudy!" she cried, barreling into the 5'5" woman unintentionally.

"Take it easy," Trudy chuckled, holding Ava tightly. "It's okay, _hermana_."

"Where's Aunt Grace?" Ava demanded, stepping back to look at her mother.

"She's safe," Amelia promised her, taking her face in both her hands. "And Trudy's going to help her get out of here. We're going to get Jake and Norm out of here too. Right now, I want you to take one of your pads and sit out of the porch where I can still see you, okay? Please. Uncle Warren and I have to talk to Trudy. All right?"

Though it didn't look like Ava wanted to leave, she did what her mother asked her, finding a pad and stepping onto the porch to leave them alone.

"I honestly don't know what I'm going to be able to do," Trudy said. "Quaritch is watchin' me close now, and most of the guys who went this morning are all being jackasses about me leaving. Especially Wainfleet."

"It's not your fault you have a conscience," Warren insisted. "You did the right thing. I wish Grace had been able to do something before this happened. But we can't dwell on that right now. I know Quaritch is going to push for another conflict. We have to get Grace off the base. She's the only one who can get through to the Clan."

"Well, right now, I gotta be careful. Maybe by morning, things'll settle down enough. You're still in a lotta trouble with the Colonel, and it's more important to keep out of anymore until this blows over."

"Do you really think it will?" Amelia asked softly. "After everything that's happened."

Trudy inhaled deep, seeming to think a little harder before she spoke again. "I really don't know. But the two of you need to stay outta his way."

"How many shifts do they have in the detention center now?" Warren asked. "Is it still three?"

"I think so. Why?"

He looked at Amelia. "If I can find out who does the morning shift, I think I can get you in there. But without me to back you up, you'll have to find someone else to help you. Who do you think would help?"

Trudy didn't respond immediately, and Amelia spoke up.

"Max would help," she said certainly. "He's always been loyal to Grace. And he can probably do it without anyone noticing him."

Warren looked at Trudy, and she nodded her head.

"I'll talk to him, but it'll have to be before first light. If I'm gonna do anything, that'll be the best time to get it done. Both of you stay out here for the time being, all right? The last thing Grace would want is somethin' happenin' to any of you. Okay? If we make it outta here, you'll know. And we'll call you when we get where we're goin'."

He looked at Amelia, and she agreed.

"Good," Trudy said. "Now, I gotta go. I'll talk to Max, and we'll figure somethin' out."

She didn't say goodbye, stepping back up into the long-house to get to the court yard before anyone noticed she was there.

Warren pulled Amelia into his arms as soon as he knew Trudy was gone, whispering to Amelia softly. "I'm so sorry you had to watch that by yourself. I wish I could've stayed out here with you. I wish none of this had happened. And I wish I could say everything is going to be okay now, but I really don't know what's going to happen. I honestly don't know what we're going to do now that this has happened. But I'm not going to leave you alone out here anymore," he swore, leaning back and taking her face in his hands. "Until we figure out how to get off the base, I'm going to stay here with you and Ava. I promise."

He pulled her close to him again, and Amelia held onto him tighter than she had in almost six years.

* * *

Without Grace there to keep Ava occupied, Amelia tried to find activities in the habitat for Ava to help her with while Warren searched through the detention roster to find out who was going to be on duty for the next 36 hours. They didn't give Ava a chance to ask about what was happening. They tried to keep her distracted while he worked, and Amelia decided to lay down with her daughter after a few hours with a book to read to see if Ava would go to sleep. The morning had apparently been very active for Ava, and she fell asleep before they got through the first chapter of _The Last Battle_ by CS Lewis. Amelia didn't leave her daughter, allowing Warren to keep an eye on their surroundings as the afternoon wore on. But she didn't sleep herself. She couldn't close her eyes without replaying everything she'd seen in her mind, so she simply laid there with Ava in her arms.

The waiting was what felt worse than anything that had happened so far. Amelia hadn't felt like this is over six years, not since she'd still been taking injections and waiting impatiently for results from her first trial three months before the in-vitro had worked. This was worse than that, especially now that she didn't have anyone to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. Grace couldn't do it from the detention cell. Tom couldn't do it because he wasn't alive. Warren couldn't even do it because he knew it wouldn't end well.

The courtyard was empty all afternoon and when the sun finally went down, Amelia left Ava in the hammock to find something to eat even though she wasn't hungry. Warren had situated himself at the video link near the doors of the long-house, and he'd been there all afternoon since coming back. Amelia didn't know if he was hungry either, but she carried food to him anyway.

All the avatars were laid down. None of them had moved all day, and Amelia knew why. She knew everyone else on the science team was inside the lab, probably still packing up what they could even if there was still a lot of equipment out here. Warren was sitting in the chair Amelia had been sitting in that morning, but he'd since fallen asleep over the table beside the video link which was still showing the inside of the lab as a few people still moved around slowly.

"Hey," she whispered, touching his back and waking him abruptly as he sat up.

"Is Ava okay?" he exclaimed.

Amelia smiled despite herself. "She's still asleep. I thought you might be hungry." She paused. "Well, actually, I need to eat. And you probably do too. So I found some food."

She set a small plate of fruit on the table as he stretched his arms above his head. "What time is it?" he asked softly.

"After 2200 hours," she said. "I didn't eat lunch, and I'm going to have to get Ava to eat soon too. Have you heard anything?" she asked of Trudy.

He inhaled deeply. "No," he said. "But that doesn't mean anything. I'm pretty sure we'll know when something happens."

"I hate sitting here waiting," Amelia said after a minute. "I wish there was something I could do."

He reached for a piece of fruit, nibbling on it absently. "There isn't anything we can do," he said softly, staring blankly away from her. "The only thing we can really do is keep Ava safe. I don't like having to sit here, and I know you don't either. But we can't risk going into the lab. I'm not leaving you or Ava, and everyone in there is safe. For now anyway."

Amelia didn't eat anything, knowing he was right and wishing he wasn't. She wanted to talk to Grace, and she wanted to know what was happening inside the lab even though there was a limited view of the lab in front of her. There was no sound, but she could see people walking around. She didn't see Max, but she didn't know if that meant anything.

"You should eat," Warren insisted, and Amelia looked at him, still feeling sick to her stomach and knowing she wouldn't be able to keep anything down.

"I'll just find something to drink," she said, rising slowly and moving back to the habitat where Ava was still sleeping.

After a few minutes, Warren stepped back into the habitat with her, moving to her side as she stood away from Ava's hammock and turning her to face him.

"Hey," he whispered, holding her face in his hands. "I'm sorry."

He didn't say anything else, leaving closer and kissing her gently. Though she didn't think it would have worked to distract her otherwise, Amelia let him do his best, kissing him back and trying to forget the day they'd had. He helped her undress, allowing her to undress him and then moving her into the shower so they could be alone. Whether anything happened later wasn't important anymore. The only thing that mattered was their time together now. And whether it worked or not, Amelia wanted it to be the only thing she focused on, finally allowing him to lay her in the bed they sometimes shared before she fell asleep in his arms where she sometimes felt safe enough to not worry about the bad things that had happened.

* * *

The gunshots woke Amelia abruptly as she laid inside the warm cocoon of Warren's arms, the loud, quick succession of an automatic rifle breaking the still air from the other side of the base, and she sat up quickly, waking Warren immediately.

"Those are gunshots," she told him, rising from the bed and pulling on the first set of clothes she reached for before she hurried through the long-house to make it outside. He followed her as another series of shots sliced through the air to the north end of the base.

"Sidearm fire," Warren said, leaving the front steps and moving out into the court yard with Amelia behind him.

The rotors of a Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson prickled the air, moving away from the base into the trees, and within seconds, Warren pointed into the sky. "She's right there," he exclaimed.

"Is it Trudy?" Amelia pleaded.

"It has to be. It's got to be her getting them off the base. Let's get back inside. They're still on the night shift, but the morning shift will be coming on soon. Quaritch is going to be pissed."

She let Warren pull her inside, and he moved to the video link, searching the channels for the monitor in Lisa's room. It took a few minutes, but when Lisa appeared in front of her video link, it was obvious she hadn't been sleeping. She was fully dressed and appeared to be looking over her shoulder.

"Is everything okay out there?" she asked quietly.

"You're awake," Amelia said, surprised.

"I haven't been to bed in over 24 hours," Lisa revealed. "Max and Trudy were just here. And we're having to keep an eye on the guards. Every security guard on the base is on alert. We all have to be careful, the two of you included. Where's Ava?"

"Asleep. None of the guards have been out here since yesterday morning."

"Don't hold out hope they'll stay away. There are three guards in the hall outside the lab watching the link room, for now. And some of them are talking about sending a detail out there to keep the courtyard secure. Be careful. I have to go."

Lisa shut off her video link, and Warren turned off the monitor.

"How long do you think it'll take Trudy to get them to where they're going?" Amelia asked.

Warren stood up, unhooking the monitor and video link from the power source and lifting all of it from the table. "I don't know," he said. "But she's going to call us, so we need to move this. If guards are going to start patrolling out here again, they'll come through here without even thinking about it. I told you Ava isn't safe anymore, and we need to be ready to move her."

He made his way back to the habitat where Ava was laying in her hammock, and Amelia followed him, noticing her daughter awake and hurrying to her side.

"Ava, honey, are you okay?" she whispered softly.

"Where's Aunt Grace?" Ava asked, following her mother's pull to step out of the hammock.

"Trudy's taking her somewhere safe right now," Amelia promised. "Hopefully, in a few hours, we'll be able to talk to Grace and Trudy, and we'll know for sure they're safe."

"Jake and Norm too?"

Amelia glanced over her shoulder at Warren as he hooked the monitor and video link to the power source they used to charge Ava's reading pads. He didn't say anything, even though he paused, and Amelia looked at Ava. "Jake and Norm too," she insisted. "Come on, baby. Let's get you something to eat, okay?"

Ava didn't argue, allowing her mother to sit her down at the table they sometimes used while Amelia got some food from the storage.

* * *

Trudy had never had to be so careful in the entire three-month period she'd spent in and out of the remote module with Grace, Norm and Jake, and it was weird having to squeeze through an even smaller space than before. With only three link beds and a fridge to sustain them, Trudy was trying not to be in the way as she hovered over Grace who was lying in her own link bed nearly passed out from a bullet wound to the gut.

After setting the link module down near the Tree of Souls, Norm and Jake were in the process of switching places, and again, Trudy was trying to stay out of the way. She was also catching the sidelong glances from Grace who, despite her injury, was looking at Trudy like they were both running out of time. Trudy could understand. It had already been a few hours, and with Grace's injury getting worse, the window they had to tell Amelia and Ava about the situation was closing fast.

"Link's runnin'," Norm told Jake, and Trudy turned her attention to them as Jake backed up to his link bed and hoisted himself inside. "What's the plan here, Jake?"

The somewhat cynical man kind of shook his head, grinning slightly. "There's no plan," he informed Norm.

"Tsu'tey is _olo'eyktan _now," Norm exclaimed, disbelief and confusion flashing across his face like a bright neon sign as he looked on at Jake incredulously. "He's not gonna let you near that place."

Jake refused to be deterred. "I gotta try," he said, lying inside the link and moving the fiber optic plate into place.

Norm sighed softly, initializing the link. "Launching."

The lid to the link closed, and Norm lifted his eyes to Trudy's. "I really hope he knows what he's doing," he said shaking his head.

"I'm sure he knows what he's doing," Grace said suddenly, breathless as she still struggled to stay awake. "Norm, I need you to do something for me."

He hurried to her side, taking her hand and leaning over her. "Anything, Grace."

She looked at Trudy for a second, and then she looked at him again. "I want you to go outside and make sure it's safe. From animals and things alike."

"Well, I looked around before coming out of my link," he promised her.

She squeezed his hand. "I need you to do it again," she insisted. "Consider it a possible last request. Now go. Trudy will look after me while you're gone."

Norm looked at Trudy again, inhaling deep and then rising to move to the airlock. "I'll be back," he swore.

He slowly stepped into the airlock, and once he was cycled through and walking around outside, Trudy moved around to be in front of Grace.

"That's only going to work for a little while," she told the injured woman.

"I know," Grace acknowledged. "Now, bring me the video link."

Trudy didn't argue, moving to the corner for the monitor and then wheeling it in front of Grace. She spotted Norm making a pass around the module, and she hoped he made a few passes so they'd have enough time to make their call and then put everything back the way it had been before he left.

* * *

Grace knew she didn't have a lot of time left. She knew that no matter what Jake did, it was very possible that she was going to die very soon. And despite her pain and the blood she'd already lost, Grace also knew that if she didn't at least try to let Amelia know what was happening, it would haunt her for the rest of whatever time she had left. She felt a little conflicted about what Jake was trying to do, but she knew he only wanted to help, and she couldn't argue with him on that point. He was only doing what he thought was right.

But Grace still had a greater responsibility to Amelia and Ava. She still had a promise to keep, and injured or not, she planned on keeping it. If she was close to dying, Grace wanted Amelia to know what was going to happen next. And since Trudy was here with her, the possibility of reaching Amelia had increased three-fold. She didn't want Ava to see her this way, but it was the best she could do.

She showed Trudy how to set up the transmitter so it would still encrypt the live feed, and she initialized the transmission location so it would go directly to where Amelia was, whether the monitor was out in the open or not.

"Don't move too much, doc," Trudy pleaded, scooting the monitor closer to Grace and then helping her prop up without causing her anymore pain.

"It's okay," Grace insisted. "I'm fine."

Trudy sighed as the video link came up to full power. "You don't have to pretend with me, Grace. I know you're hurting."

Grace huffed, propping herself up against the scanner on her link and reaching out to touch the monitor gently. "Just sit there and be quiet," she pleaded. "I really don't want to have to do this, but I can't let Amelia think the worst. She has to know the truth, even if this is the last time she sees me."

No reply came back, and Grace pressed the last button, immediately rewarded with a live video feed showing her the inside of the habitat behind the long-house. "Amy," she called weakly.

It only took a minute, and finally, Amelia appeared in front of the monitor. "Grace?" she called.

"It's me, honey," Grace said breathlessly. "Are you okay?"

Amelia inhaled deeply. "We're okay. What's happened? Where are you?"

Grace glanced at Trudy, noticing the pilot shaking her head and then looking at Amelia again. "We're safe. For now anyway. Is Ava with you? Amy, honey, we need to talk. It's important. Now go get Ava, please?"

"Give me a minute," Amelia pleaded, rising quickly out of the monitor and returning with Ava after about thirty seconds.

The instant Grace saw Ava, she smiled despite herself. "Hi, Ava," she laughed softly. "Sweetie, are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Aunt Grace. Are you okay?"

Grace inhaled deeply, grimacing as the movement caused her wound to shift, and she groaned softly.

"Aunt Grace, what's wrong?"

It took a minute, and Trudy moved closer, supporting Grace as Amelia spoke softly.

"We heard gunshots early this morning," she told them. "Warren said he heard sidearm fire. Grace, you don't look so good."

Grace grinned, grimacing again. "Well, at least I've taught you to be observant. Honey, I really don't want to do this, because I know I told you a long time ago that I would never leave you. But there isn't an easy way to say this. And I don't have the energy to keep up a charade like this one for very much longer."

Grace paused, and Amelia spoke after a couple of minutes. "You were shot this morning," Amelia concluded. "Quaritch shot you, didn't he?"

"Well, it's very likely I was hit by a ricocheted bullet, and as much as I want to deny it, I can't. And I've apparently already lost a lot of blood. I think Jake is off somewhere right now, but it doesn't matter what he does now. Amy, honey, I need you to listen to me, please? I'm not doing so good, and I can't do anything to keep you safe. So I really need you to keep Ava there on the base. No matter what happens in the next few days, I need you to promise me that you won't try to run. Ava's too important, and so are you. Warren can keep you safe there. I know it. And I think I speak for all three of us — you, me and Trudy — when I say that I was wrong by not letting you or Ava be around Jake or Norm. I should've trusted you. I should've trusted him. Maybe then the two of you would be with Mo'at and Neytiri now, where they could keep the two of you safe. So do this last thing for me. Whatever happens the next few days, do not leave the base. Just lay low and wait. Because I honestly don't think Jake is going to let Quaritch get away with this."

"But they're patrolling the fence," Amelia told her. "They haven't come near here, but it's only a matter of time."

"Warren knows what to do to keep the guards out of the habitat. And there's enough food to last for nearly three weeks. Please, Amy. This is important."

Amelia looked at Ava, quiet for several seconds before she looked passed Grace at Trudy. "How does it look, Trudy?" she asked softly.

Grace glanced at Trudy and then closed her eyes.

"It looks like the bullet hit her intestines," Trudy revealed. "It went deep enough to hit a lot of tissue and cause internal bleeding, and she's probably leaking stomach acid into her abdomen. I'm not a medic, so I only know basic first aide, but I've been hangin' around enough doctors to know it doesn't look good. And without proper medical care, she'll continue to bleed out and the infection will more than likely kill her."

The tears in Amelia's eyes were unmistakable, but she didn't lose her composure, inhaling deep as she held Ava tighter against her. "What do you think Jake is going to be able to do?" she asked.

Trudy sighed softly. "I honestly don't know," she said shaking her head. "But like I said, it doesn't look good."

"Grace," Amelia said softly. "I'm scared."

Grace grinned again, laughing softly and grimacing again. "Oh, believe me, so am I. But do this for me, and it'll ease my mind a little bit more. Look, I don't want to die. And I know Jake is going to do everything he can. But I want you to be prepared for this to turn out bad, because there aren't any guarantees here. Please, Amy. Promise me you won't leave the base."

Amelia hid her face behind Ava, seeming to catch her breath for another minute before she spoke. "All right," she said softly.

Grace sat up, groaning. "Amy, promise."

"Okay," Amelia exclaimed.

"Say, _'I promise.'_"

Amelia did nothing to hide the tears that slid down her cheeks. "I promise," she cried.

"Okay," Grace said, leaning back and stifling a moan. "Good."

The outer door of the airlock clicked shut, and Trudy stood up. "We gotta go," she told Amelia, switching off the video link and hurriedly shoving it back into the corner next to Norm's link bed before she moved to Grace's side to help her lay back down. Less than a minute later, Norm stepped into the module pulling off his exopack.

"All right," he said. "Area's clear," he reported. "Anybody hungry?"

Trudy glanced at Grace, hoping there was no more fatigue on her face than there had been before Norm had stepped outside. She looked at Norm, trying to smile. "What did you have in mind?" she shrugged.

* * *

Ava didn't wait for her mother to be able to stop her, running out of the habitat to the front porch and scanning the courtyard before she ducked into the trees surrounding the south side of the long-house. She knew her mother wouldn't follow her, and she knew Warren wouldn't follow her. They were both too afraid of the guards. But Ava wasn't afraid. She'd never really been afraid, and it didn't matter if the guards saw her. She'd fight all of them if she had to.

She'd been watching the guards all morning, up until Aunt Grace had called, and she'd noticed how they were all staying away from the back end of the fence near the house. She noticed that her tree was perfectly out of their way, and when she was sure they wouldn't even catch a glimpse of her, she made a run for it.

The sun was shining, causing the ugliest glint to reflect off the metal fence as she moved along the grass less than a foot from the edge of the kill zone directly on the other side of the fence. It was warmer than it usually was, but Ava wasn't uncomfortable as she made it to her tree and began climbing it easily. The nearest tower was probably fifty meters away, and three guards were currently pacing inside. But Ava remained camouflaged within the leaves and branches, getting to the limbs above the fence and gazing out into the forest.

Ava wasn't sure why, but she always felt safe up here, despite the fact that she was closer to guards here and animals from the other side of the fence. But since getting back to the base from the remote camp, Ava had been spending more time here than anywhere else combined. And she never told anyone why. She never told anyone what she did while she was up here. No one ever asked, not even her mother. Of course, if they knew the things she saw while she was up here, they would make her stop coming. The strange thing was that it was her mother's fault she saw the things she'd seen, especially when she saw _her_.

After seeing Grace and knowing something was very wrong, Ava felt better thinking of her teacher in a more positive way — alive and unharmed, happy and selfless. Ava didn't want to remember her teacher weak and unable to laugh without feeling pain from a bullet wound inflicted on her by the very people she'd been ordered to assist in their rape of the very land they stood on.

But when Ava connected her queue to the small spot of the tree she'd discovered that connected her to the rest of the forest, she only felt pain. She felt nothing but grief, and she knew nothing good would come of it. She couldn't feel Grace or Jake, but she could hear Neytiri and Mo'at. She recognized their voices and faces from what Grace had taught her. She knew they were hurting, and she knew they were scared and confused. She could understand that, since she was feeling the same things. She didn't think anything would make that better, no matter what Jake decided to do.

Ava sat in her tree all day, feeling surges in the forest every now and then and sensing things she didn't know how to interpret. There were so many people in so much pain, and it didn't feel like there was anything that could heal it. Like Grace. It seemed like no matter what Jake tried to do, it wasn't going to be enough. And that scared Ava. It scared her more than anything else ever had in all her life — because it meant something more would have to be done to heal what was already messed up.

All day, Ava stayed in her tree, and nothing changed. But then, just as the sun was going down, she felt the most powerful surge. She felt Grace again.

* * *

The first time Amelia knew something different was happening, she could see a strange light coming from the largest tree in the courtyard — the tree where she'd buried a small portable drive of all her and Tom's transmissions to each other. The sun was just setting when the tree came to life, pulsing with a brilliant green light that began at the roots of the tree and traveled up into the branches. Warren had since gone into the lab to check on Lisa, and it was just Amelia and Ava out here now since the guards were on shift change. Amelia stepped out of the long-house slowly, watching roots in the ground glowing as much as the tree, and she followed them slowly, arriving at her destination and realizing that Ava was up in the tree and the glowing roots were leading to her.

"Ava," she called softly, looking around to make sure they were still alone. "Ava, come down from there."

Her daughter didn't respond, rocking back and forth against the tree as it continued to pulse. Amelia didn't know what was going on, but the moment she touched the tree, she felt the strongest force she'd ever felt before.

In the seven years she'd been on the base, she never experienced anything like this, and it was confusing and overwhelming. Though she wanted her daughter to be safe on the ground, Amelia somehow knew Ava was where she needed to be. So she hid behind the tree and waited for it to be over, no matter how long it took.

Half an hour passed, and Ava didn't make any noise. She only rocked back and forth for the entire length of time she was up there until she suddenly stopped, and the pulsing stopped. The courtyard became dark again, and Amelia stood up straight, looking up into the tree. She didn't think about how long it had really been until a bright light caught her eyes as it shined right at her.

"What are you doing outside?" a loud, booming voice demanded, blocking her sight of him from behind the light.

Amelia didn't move. She didn't speak. She only stared.

"I asked you a question! What are you doing outside? Answer me now!"

Still, she said nothing, standing still as she tried to look around the light at him. She knew he was aiming a gun at her, and she knew he would shoot her if she made any sudden moves.

"Let me explain," she pleaded, remaining near the tree.

"Step away from the tree," he ordered.

Amelia lifted her eyes into the tree, spotting Ava and thinking of her safety. Then she slowly stepped away from the tree. If he aimed the gun at her, then he wouldn't see Ava up in the tree.

"Where's your mask?" he demanded. "How are you breathing?"

"It's complicated," Amelia said softly.

"Start talking!"

"Mama?" Ava called, and he lifted the light into the tree.

"No, no, look at me," Amelia pleaded. "They gave me injections, okay?" she told him, and he turned the light back on her. "They shipped me here as part of an experiment. To see if they could get me to breathe out here."

"Who's in the tree?" he demanded.

"No one," she said shaking her head. "It's just me out here."

"Mama!"

Again, he aimed his light into the tree, but he didn't seem to see Ava.

"Stay up there," Amelia pleaded.

"But I know where Aunt Grace is," Ava exclaimed, moving through the tree and then jumping to the ground.

"Ava, no!" Amelia cried, watching the guard aim his light and his gun at Ava.

"What the hell is that?" he whispered, obviously afraid and confused.

Ava's tail came into his view, and it took less than two seconds for Amelia to know what he was doing as he chambered a single bullet and took aim. It took even less time for her to step in front of Ava just as the bullet meant for her daughter hit her gut, just below her ribcage as it punctured her intestines. The pain was immediate as Amelia dropped to her knees, and Ava knelt beside her.

"Mama," she cried, lifting her eyes to the guard and glaring as she bared her teeth at him.

She was crouched on her feet, ready to charge when another voice stopped her.

"Austin, what the hell are you doing out here?" Warren yelled, coming closer to them with an exopack strapped to his face.

Amelia reached for Ava to keep her close, breathing deep as more pain spread through her abdomen and into her chest and hips. She couldn't move, let alone breathe to make noise as Warren arrived at the guard's side.

"I was coming on shift when I saw her," Austin told Warren. "She wouldn't answer me. She's not wearing a mask, and that thing just jumped out of the tree. She looks like one of those savages out there that attacked the bulldozer crew this morning. What is it? And why are you out here? I thought you were supposed to be with your science puke friends in the lab."

Amelia inhaled, groaning softly and lifting her eyes to Warren's.

* * *

"What is that thing?" Austin demanded, still aiming his sidearm at Ava.

"She looks like a little girl," Warren shouted at him. "And it looks likes you're scaring her. Put your weapon away."

"No way," Austin said shaking his head. "Colonel never said anything like this was on the base. Did you know about this?"

Warren didn't say anything at first, and Amelia pulled Ava closer. It was quiet for a minute, and Warren pulled his exopack off, allowing Austin to look at him before he slammed the mask at Austin's. The guard's mask shattered, and Warren wrenched the gun from his hands, pushing him to the ground and watching him writhe from suffocating.

"You could say that," he told Austin, throwing the pack down and then hurrying to Amelia's side as she unwillingly laid down on the ground. "Amelia," he whispered, taking her hand in his and laying his other hand over her forehead. "My God, I'm sorry. I should have been out here with you."

"Uncle Warren, what's wrong with Mama?" Ava pleaded.

He stared into Amelia's eyes, and she lifted her fingers to his face. "We have to get your mother inside," he told her, moving forward and lifting Amelia in his arms.

"Stop right there!" He didn't recognize the guard's voice.

Warren didn't move, holding Amelia close to him and pulling Ava closer to keep her hidden.

"Mr. Watson, what happened to Mr. Jennings?"

Warren looked over his shoulder. "He shot her," he shouted. "I need to get her inside."

"Where's your mask, Mr. Watson?"

Warren sighed softly, looking at Ava and then Amelia to see her barely holding on. "I don't need one, sir. Please. I can explain, but I need to get her inside. She's losing a lot of blood."

"You tell me how you're breathing outside without your mask, and we might think about letting you take the girl inside. But I'm afraid I'll have to get rid of that thing you're trying to hide."

Warren grit his teeth, feeling Amelia's breathing become shallow. He knew he needed to get her inside, but he couldn't leave Ava out here by herself. He lifted his eyes to Ava's, pulling her closer to him and whispering to her.

"Run."

Fear filled her eyes, but she understood, grasping onto him and then looking at Amelia. She leaned closer, kissing her mother's forehead and then kissing Warren before she turned on her toes and ran for her tree. The guard fired twice, hitting the tree and then the fence, but Ava climbed her tree fast, getting out of sight before Warren felt the end of the gun at the back of his neck.

"I should've known you were one of them," the guard accused. "Did you honestly think it wouldn't show after a while?"

Warren buried his face in the bend of Amelia's neck. She wasn't breathing anymore, and he couldn't feel her pulse anymore.

"Shoot me," Warren whispered.

"Excuse me?"

Warren turned to look at the guard, holding Amelia as close to him as he could. "Shoot me. Because I don't have anything else here to live for. So just shoot me."

"You're telling me you care more about that freak than anybody else on the base?" the guard spat. "She didn't even look human!"

As carefully as he could, Warren set Amelia on the ground, getting up on the balls of his feet and lunging forward to take the guard down by his legs. The gun in his hand fell to the ground, firing as the guard hit his head on one of the concrete markers in the courtyard. He didn't move to fight Warren, and for half a minute, Warren thought it was safe.

But then he felt a sharp, radiating pain surging through his shoulder. He wrapped his hand around his collarbone, feeling it warm, wet and sticky.

"Warren," he heard, lifting his eyes to see a blurry figure coming closer to him. "Hey, what happened?"

Warren felt two strong hands lay him back on the grass, and the ground began to spin uncontrollably. He passed out slowly, whispering.

"Amelia, I love you."

* * *

Dr. Max Patel leaned over the bleeding avatar driver, taking his pulse and making sure he was still breathing before he looked up at Helen.

"How is she?" he asked, pressing his palm into Warren's shoulder as hard as he could.

"Bullet wound to the abdomen," she reported. "Looks like it might have hit her large intestine. She needs surgery. Breathing is shallow, and her pulse is thready, but she's alive."

"What about them?" he asked of the guards who were laid out in the courtyard.

She looked at them, breathing hard through her exopack and shaking her head. "Guy out there is dead," she said. "Asphyxiation. That one over there looks like he's bleeding from the back of his head. I think I can get her. Where's Mitch?"

"He was cycling through the airlock. Get her inside. I'm not sure why she's not wearing a mask. I'm not sure why Warren's not wearing a mask. But I know I'm not gonna let them die because of some stupid guards. Go."

Helen didn't argue, leaning forward and gently lifting the petite woman in her arms as Mitch came out of the airlock. She passed off the woman, giving Mitch the run-down.

"She's been shot in the abdomen. Lost a lot of blood. Get her into the ambient bay and set it up for trauma. I have to help Max."

Mitch didn't argue, taking the woman, and Helen hurried back to Max where he was pulling Warren from the grass. Together, they hurried to the airlock together, getting to the ambient room where Mitch was laying the woman over one of the gurneys.

"Who on the science team has experience with trauma?" Max asked, laying Warren over the other gurney.

"David has the most experience with bullet wounds," Mitch informed him.

"Get him. Let's get them hooked up to the machines. And no one comes in here without explicit permission from me. No security, no technicians, absolutely no military junk heads."

Mitch left the room through another airlock, and Max pulled the two monitoring machines from the corner to get Warren and the woman hooked up for surgery.

* * *

Max, Helen, Mitch and David all worked through the night and into the early morning hours while the base was on the graveyard shift with Quartich's guys making several passes outside the lab, and even after eight hours, all they'd accomplished was keeping Warren and the woman with him from dying all together.

Upon closer inspection, David, one of the on-site trauma techs from the science team had discovered that the bullet Warren had been hit with had pierced both his subclavian artery and his subclavian vein, not only causing him to lose blood outside his body, but inside as well, and it was nearly impossible to fix. Warren lost a lot of blood in the reparations, but he was alive — barely. His heart stopped twice, and without knowing if he could still breathe oxygen completely, they'd had to hook him up to a make-shift pulse-ox machine. They'd stabilized him, but David was already saying the possibility of Warren waking up was slim to nil.

The woman was a different story all together. Having already lost a good amount of blood in the courtyard, she'd suffered the most damage after the bullet in her gut ripped through her large intestine and punctured a major artery. They'd tried to give her more blood, but it only seemed to make her condition worse. Helen had been the one to suggest using blood from one of the avatars outside, and even though the idea had sounded crazy, they'd been out of other options. She'd even volunteered her own avatar for the three pints of blood it had taken to stabilize the woman's condition. But she was still unconscious, and on top of that, Max was pretty sure she was pregnant. It was a miracle after all the blood she'd lost, but the avatar blood had amazingly helped.

When the sun started to come up outside, Lisa had contacted them through the glass, telling them time was running out, and Max was sure the guards would come through here. It had been more than twenty-four hours since he'd talked to Jake, and he needed to get back in the lab to figure out what to do if and when everything started to go bad.

"The way I see it," he said to the three others there. "We have two options. We can take them both off the equipment and let them flatline. Or we can find somewhere to put them until we have the supplies to fix their injuries."

"Like what?" Mitch asked. "Suspended animation? How in the hell are we going to do that? And with all the shit going on out there, where are we going to get supplies to do another surgery like this? Selfridge has already shut down the avatars. What makes you think he won't shut down the lab next?"

"I don't. But like I said, we have two options." He looked at Helen, seeing a pained look on her face and moving to her side. "We're not going to let them die," he promised her. "But I don't know what else to do."

"What about the cryopods we have for the plant specimens?" David offered. "If we have to put them on ice, those are perfect. They're just the right size. They don't need a lot of power, and they're out of the way. Once they're locked, only one person can unlock them. None of the guards would be able to open them."

"What about the plants?" Mitch asked.

No one answered him, and he sheepishly retreated. "Sorry. I was just asking."

"How fast do you think you can get the pods prepped?" Max asked David.

"An hour. Maybe two."

He looked at Helen and then Mitch, thinking silently and then nodding. "Do it. And no one else talks about this again. I'll encrypt the security codes to lock the pods, and that way, even I won't be able to open them. Unless they malfunction."

David bowed his head, leaving the room, and Max moved to the monitors to look at Warren's vitals.

"His father's a general back home," he said absently. "Bet he never thought he'd end up getting stored in a plant pod while supplies are scavenged for his injuries to be repaired." Then he turned to Helen. "Get the specs for cryosleep. We have to get them ready."

She began to work, and Mitch moved around to help Max.

Two hours later, after finding the cocktail that was normally used to put people into cryosleep and mixing it with the right amount of hydrogenated fluid to keep crystalization from forming in their blood, Warren and the woman with him were placed in two of the cryopods in the science lab while still being monitored through a hidden pad next to the main doors. David and Helen moved the compartment lids into place, and Mitch sealed the pods shut before Max locked the lids with his own security tag. He encrypted it with a series of numbers and letters that would be randomly selected once the pods were turned on, and when that was done, he and David moved a set of tables and microscope apparatuses in front of them to keep everyone away from them. A blinking fixture was the only indicator left to tell anyone what was really going on, but an hour after they finished three guards made a pass through the room, and they never asked what the blinking light meant.

And then Max started keeping an eye on the doors to the lab. He wanted to know exactly what was going on outside the lab so that when Jake called, they'd all be able to come up with a plan. It was very important for them to have a plan.

* * *

While running as hard as she'd ever run in her life, Ava also kept an eye on everything around her, since she'd never actually been in the forest by herself. Her mother was dead. Warren was probably dead too. Grace wasn't . . . dead, but she wasn't exactly in a position to help Ava right now. Whether he'd been meant to be or not, Jake was the only one she had left, even if he didn't even know her. If she could find him and tell him everything there was to tell, he would understand. He'd been trying to help Grace. Ava was sure he would help her.

Though the forest wasn't dark, it wasn't safe either — not right now, and Ava needed somewhere to hide until it was daylight. After jumping from the top of her tree to a tree on the other side of the fence, she hadn't known which direction to go, but her gut told her east, so she ran east. Ava didn't really have anywhere else to go, but she knew she couldn't go back to the base. Not until it was safe — if it was ever going to be safe.

The sound of a fierce growl became present the further away from the base Ava got, and even though she didn't want to stop, an instinct she didn't even know she had forced her to halt in her tracks and gaze around her surroundings. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw green glowing eyes a lot like hers glaring back at her. But she wasn't afraid. She'd been taught not to fear the forest, and right now, that was the only thing that was going to keep her alive.

* * *

**If you're reading this, it means you've made it all the way to the bottom and deserve a prize. I know we're kind of restricted being on the internet and all, but hey, I can try. **

**That seems like a pretty big detail, right? All this time we've been led to believe that Amelia and Warren were both dead, but now it looks like they were never dead at all. Remember way back a _few_ chapters ago when Jake realized somehow that Amelia was still out there and needed to be laid to rest? Well, this is why! And why did Max leave Warren and Amelia in "cryo" for so long? They live on a base where supplies like that are limited, but alas, this will only be a small set back.**

**I want to thank all my readers for sticking with me through all the strolls down memory lane. Though I can't promise I won't do it again. I'm actually thinking of a side story, but more on that later.**

**Anyway, we have a few definitions.**

**_olo'eyktan - _Clan Leader**

**Spanish:**

**_hermana - _sister**

**Until next time, which hopefully won't be long from now, Keep Calm and Carry on!  
**


	24. Beyond all Expectations

**When I started writing this chapter, I think I knew exactly how I wanted it to go, and anyone who writes should know how crazy that is. There's no way you can control your characters and make them do what you want them to. And I actually feel a little crazy thinking I could do it. So I'll be honest when I say there are a few things that happen in this particular chapter that weren't exactly planned. All in all though, they really made the whole thing a lot better. So I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, things get a little closer to the M rating at the end, but nothing too graphic. That's not really my style.**

**Anyway, since I've kept you long enough, Read on!  
**

* * *

_**Beyond all Expectations**_

It was easy to see what Ava was seeing as we flew low through the canopy of the trees, and with a single call to her, we separated to keep from scaring away the herd of _talioang_ we'd been tracking for several hours. Eyreal and Tu'San had split from the group to move in from the north, and Rey'sik and Taw'biht were coming in from the west while a group on the ground was coming in from the south on _pa'li_. So far, we could see a fairly large group moving along, and if we made too much noise, it would start a stampede. While that usually made the hunt a lot more exciting, there were younger hunters on the ground, and we didn't want to risk them getting trampled.

Ava called to me from the left, signaling the herd's movement closer to the west, and we both changed our alignment with each other just a little to keep from hitting any stray vines or branches. She was getting better at spotting the lead male, and as soon as she had him, she took aim from the back of her _ikran_. In the last few weeks, she and Hawnuyu had become a formidable team, communicating with each other better than anyone had expected, and she was already impressing the elders in the Clan. She was also impressing a lot of younger hunters, but I was trying not to worry about that.

Tu'San had come to me the day of Ava's seventeenth birthday to ask about her undergoing _Uniltaron_, and I could tell he'd done so very uncomfortably. It had been awkward for me too.

_"She has earned the right to take part in Uniltaron, has she not?" he'd asked me._

_"She has," I agreed. "But with her being so much smaller than the others her age, Mo'at is worried she wouldn't survive."_

_"Ava is strong," he said certainly. "Any hunter would be proud to have her for a mate." He paused and turned to me. "I am uncertain how to proceed, Jakesully. I would not normally be required to do this. But she is very unique, and I asked ma tsahik how to proceed."_

_"Ask what you're going to ask," I pressed, even though it came out a little more harshly than I meant for it to._

_He sighed heavily, bowing his head. "I know I did not . . . appreciate Ava when she first arrived. I know I did not understand her place here. But she surprised me. She never complained. She never refused. She learned so well. I will ask for your guidance in the matter of her future here — a future I wish to include me. Would it be possible for you to express this to her for me?"_

Thinking about it now as I flew through the forest over a herd of animals with Ava at my side, I became grossly aware of the others who'd expressed an interest in Ava as a mate, but the only thing standing in their way was the fact that she hadn't completed the Dream Hunt. I was hoping she would decide not to go through with it, but so far, she hadn't said anything one way or another. I also realized that I'd lied to Tu'San when I'd said that Mo'at was the one worried about her not surviving. I knew I was the one worried for her survival.

A shift in the herd's movement forced them out into the open of a small clearing, and dust and dirt billowed around their heavy hooves as the _pa'li_ riders closed in on them quickly. Having not fired her arrow yet, Ava banked hard to the right, further away from me to close in on the lead male of the herd, and the riders on the ground took her lead, moving the herd tighter together to streamline their numbers. She singled the male out easily, aiming again and shooting this time with near perfect precision. The lead male stumbled, kicking up more dust as he slid to a stop while the others in the herd scattered to hide unsuccessfully.

I found my own prey as he bounded around a group of younger calves, doubling back to time the shot just right while the riders on the ground began to weed out the kills we'd already made. I remembered all the target practice I'd done when Neytiri had been teaching me, honing the skill to a near science as I aimed for the second male of the herd and shot with the same precision I always had to hit him right above his shoulder joint where one of only two vulnerable spots existed. He slid to a stop a few hundred meters from Ava's kill, and she yelled after me, causing me to look at her and see a wide smile on her face.

"Mine's bigger than yours!" she shouted, laughing as we circled the clearing and saw Eyreal and Tu'San coming in with Rey'sik and Taw'biht.

I laughed with her, my mood lighter than it had been in over a week.

When we all made it back to the village, several people were already waiting to prepare the feast. It had already been a few weeks since the last major celebration, and three more hunters had successfully completed _iknimaya_ to claim their place in the Clan. Ava's achievement, though amazing as it had been, had been long told since nearly six weeks had passed. No longer did Rey'sik or his friends attempt to single her out to fight with her. In fact, Rey'sik's friends very rarely ever approached Ava anymore. Only Rey'sik ever even spoke to Ava, but it wasn't out of spite anymore. I realized quickly that it was out of respect.

I made a point of inviting Norm to the feast, since it had been a little while since we'd seen each other, and I also wanted to give him the supplies I'd asked Mo'at about rationing for the few of them still on the base. In all, there were only about 25 of them, and it was a small sacrifice for their risk. After telling Mo'at about Norm's experiment, I could tell she'd been impressed — especially since he was a _tawtute_.

"You two are doing a lot of hunting lately," Norm said over the comm. "Surely there's more to life." He laughed.

"Well, we make a good team," I chuckled back. "Kind of like me and Neytiri were a good team."

Norm was quiet a minute before he continued. "You're just hunting with Ava, right, Jake?" he inquired. "You know she's only 17. And you're technically 32."

"Actually, I'm only 27 in the body," I told him. "The avatar was only 17 when it got here, remember? And chronologically, it's only 17, since it only grew for six years."

"And it worries me that it sounds like you've been working on that speech for a little while now," he said, the hesitation in his voice similar to the way he'd sounded while I'd been on the base with Ava nearly eight months earlier. I could tell he was more than worried and not just about her, but me too.

"Actually, Ava's the one who told me that," I informed him. "And it ultimately is her choice. Besides, would you be that worried if you knew about the others who've expressed an interest in her? One of which is nearly as old as I am."

"Others?" he repeated, and I could feel the smile on his face fade quickly.

I laughed. "See, I'm not the only bad guy around here," I teased.

"Does Ava know they've 'expressed interest in her'?" he asked, sounding more like an older brother than an objective scientist.

"Of course she knows," I swore. "Who do you think turned them all down?" I paused. "Well, most of them. There are a few I'm worried about myself. Listen, the feast isn't for several hours. It's plenty of time for you to get here. Bring a couple extra pairs of hands for the supplies."

"I'll call you when I'm close enough."

"_Tse'a nga tsatseng_."

I turned off the comm, making my way back down to the commons area where most of the hunters were gathering. I saw Ava in a group of girls, and I moved closer to her only to be stopped by Mo'at.

"I must speak with you in private," she commanded softly, pulling me away from the crowd to a small alcove where we normally held elder meetings.

"Is everything all right?" I asked her.

She was quiet a moment, finally speaking as she lifted her eyes to mine. "I know you have been made aware of my choice for the next to follow me," she said.

I bowed my head, remembering when Eyreal had come to me a few weeks earlier. "I have," I admitted.

She lifted her hands to my shoulders. "Then I must presume you now know what is to be expected of you," she continued. "You have done very well showing our world to _'ewan'aw_, but she must take her own place. You already have yours. I know Tu'San has asked you to speak to her on the matter of _Uniltaron_. You will speak to her on this, will you not?"

"Ava hasn't expressed a desire to participate one way or another," I revealed. "But I will speak to her when she asks."

"Jakesully, you know your place," she said again, staring at me like she knew what I was thinking. I didn't want to defy her or what was expected of me, but I refused to force Ava to take a mate she didn't want.

"This isn't my decision," I told Mo'at. "You know that. I can't make Ava choose a mate. And if she isn't ready for the Dream Hunt, then she isn't ready. You said she only had to do it if she wanted. What changed?"

"I see the look in your eyes, and I know your own desires," she revealed. "I allowed my daughter's union with you all those years ago because I could not have stopped it even if I had wanted to. But this cannot be. Nothing good will come of it. Surely, you know this."

I bowed my head again, wanting desperately to be released, not only from her hands, but also her gaze. "I'll talk to her," I said lifting my eyes to hers. "But I won't force her to do something she doesn't want to do. Will you support her no matter what she decides?" I pleaded.

Finally, she let me go. "Of course," she nodded.

I stepped back, moving back out into the commons area where everyone else was gathered and wanting more now than ever to be anywhere but here.

* * *

I didn't purposefully avoid anyone that afternoon while waiting for Norm, but I didn't make my presence known to very many of the people who noticed my attitude. After an hour, I strapped on the throat mike so I could leave the main crowd, but I also used the time I had to think about what Mo'at had said. I hadn't even realized I'd been showing any of that on my face, but I'd clearly failed at hiding it. I'd never really thought about Neytiri until now, at least not in this capacity, and I wondered if she had felt pressured to mate with Tsu'tey before I'd come along.

I honestly didn't feel pressured to mate with Eyreal, and if Ava wasn't here now, I wouldn't even hesitate to abide by the traditions we had in place for a reason. But the truth was that Ava _was_ here now. The truth was that I didn't feel right telling her she couldn't choose who she wanted, because I couldn't honestly say I didn't want her to choose me. And I knew I wouldn't stop her if she did. Whether it was defiant or not, Neytiri had listened to her heart in choosing me, and I wasn't going to let anyone take that from Ava. I wasn't going to let anyone take that from me. Not even Mo'at.

I was settled up in a tree a couple of kilometers from Hometree when Norm called me over the mike, and hearing his voice startled me, causing me to fall several meters before I was able to grab a vine less than five meters from the ground.

"Perhaps you should be watching what you are doing," I heard and looked at the ground to see Eyreal there.

"_Jake, you there?"_

I sighed heavily, lowering myself to the ground before I lifted my fingers to the nodes. "Yeah, I'm here."

"_Hey, I'm about half an hour out."_

"I'll see you in the clearing."

I turned to Eyreal. "How did you know I was out here?" I asked her, turning to make my way to the clearing. She followed me.

"I need to talk to you," she said softly. "About _ma tsahik._"

"What about her?"

She extended her hand, laying her palm over my arm. "I know she . . . spoke to you about _Uniltaron_. About Tu'San. And me. I know you want to give _Ava-tsyìp_ all she wishes to have, and I know what she wishes."

I stopped, turning to face her again. "And exactly what does she wish?" I asked.

Eyreal lowered her eyes, laying her hand over my chest. "She wishes to make her own choice, and she needs you to help her make that choice. I listen to her when she speaks to me. And I know Tu'San has asked you about her. He feels he must ask your permission before he will pursue her."

I bowed my head, closing my eyes and laying my hand over hers. "I want Ava to have her choice. And I want to help her make that choice. And I know Tu'San wants her to choose him. I also know two other boys have expressed the same things. Whether he likes it or not, he has competition. Taw'biht has already asked for permission to undertake _Uniltaron_. I don't know if he's ready, but I know why he's doing it. Because I did it too."

"And what are you going to tell him?" she asked as the sound of the Samson's rotors reached our ears.

"He's earned the right to choose his path," I said of Taw'biht. "I'll have to talk to Mo'at, but I'm sure we'll allow him his chance."

"What about _Ava-tsyìp_?" she asked softly.

I wasn't sure what to say, but I knew I needed to meet Norm and anyone with him. I took her hand in mine, pulling her further along the forest toward the clearing. "I thought you were still training to be the _tsahik_. How did you become so insightful?"

"Even if we are not yet mates," she said carefully, "we are still friends. And we must be united. Should we not?"

I nodded, agreeing easily. "We should."

I didn't say anything else, leading the way to the clearing with her at my side.

I could see the three distinct figures in the open hull of the Samson before I saw Norm in the cockpit, and while I recognized Max and Alex, there was a blond-haired woman I wasn't very familiar with. I mentally thought of Helen and Lori, since I saw them most of everyone else. In the last few weeks, since finishing Amelia's video logs, I'd realized who Lori was, and I was actually surprised I hadn't recognized her before — even with the scar.

But this new woman had either never been outside the lab like Helen and Lori, or I simply hadn't ever seen her before. I made a mental note to ask Norm about it while I crouched behind a tree with Eyreal waiting for him to land so we could move in slowly. The three tiny humans were already pulling off their harnesses and jumping out of the hull when I got there, and Max smiled.

"Good to see you, Jake," he shouted over the rotors even as they powered down. "Helen said to say 'hi.'"

I nodded. "It's good to see you too," I agreed, reaching to take his tiny hand in mine.

He smiled, motioning to Alex and the woman who looked at me like she knew me. "You remember Alex," he gestured.

I nodded again, and even though I didn't expect it, when Alex reached for my hand, I automatically reciprocated.

"This is Lisa," he said of the blond woman, and it took a few seconds for the name to resonate. "She's our resident botanist, and we like to keep her under wraps."

I reacted without thinking, kneeling in front of her. "I know who she is," I said to his surprise. "I think Ava will be happy to see you. I know I am."

Max and Norm stepped in around us, and Alex spoke suddenly.

"How do you two know each other?" he asked.

I looked at them, speaking even as I looked at her again. "Well, I don't really know her," I admitted. "And I don't think she really knows me. But I've heard a lot about her, and she probably got an earful about me. From Ava's mother. And Warren?"

Lisa nodded, glancing at Max and Norm and then looking at Alex before she lifted her hands to her mask and unhooked the clasp, pulling it off slowly.

"Lisa, don't," Max ordered, moving in to stop her.

"It's okay," she said, strapping the mask over her pack and then looking at me. "It's been almost ten years since I started injecting myself, so breathing with the pack on is actually kind of cumbersome now."

I sat back on my calves, allowing her closer and opening my arms as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "It's good to finally meet you," I said softly. "I honestly never thought I'd ever get to."

"Well, you were kind of busy," she whispered. "And so was I. I should have done something the last time you were on the base with her. But I was so scared she wouldn't recognize me. She only really ever saw me in my avatar. And it's been a very long time."

I leaned back to look at her. "Hey, it took her less than a day to remember me," I revealed. "And she barely knew me. Like I said, I think she'll be happy to see you."

"_Olo'eyktan_," Eyreal said now sitting at my side as a formal tone eased through her voice. "You know this _tawtute_?"

I looked at Eyreal confused, then realizing that I was holding Lisa like she was someone I'd known much longer than I actually had. Then I looked at Norm and Max, seeing their expressions just as confused. "I don't really know her," I explained. "But after I found Ava in the forest, and after we found out about her mother Amelia, Max and Norm gave me video logs to watch so I could learn about her and her life on the base. This is Lisa," I said, gesturing to her and gently laying my hand over her shoulder. "She helped Amelia raise Ava for the first six years of her life. She was an avatar driver — _uniltìranyu_ like me and Norm. But I didn't know she was experimenting on herself too," I said, shooting a disapproving gaze in Norm's direction.

He shook his head, holding his hands up in surrender. "I didn't know," he exclaimed. "I don't even know how she was able to do it."

Eyreal moved closer to Lisa, looking into her eyes and reaching out to touch her face. It was obvious Eyreal hadn't ever really been this close to another Human before, even with Norm coming to Hometree. But she was intrigued, stroking Lisa's hair and touching the slick skin of her arms. "You help . . . raise _Ava-tsyìp_?"

Lisa smiled. "I was there when she was born," she said proudly.

Eyreal looked at me, and I nodded, verifying her proclamation. She looked at Lisa again. "You were _'eylan_ to _Ava-tsyìp_ _ma sa'nok_?"

I thought for a few seconds that I would have to translate, but Lisa spoke before I did.

"We were like sisters," she said of her and Amelia.

This seemed to make Eyreal relax, and she smiled, extending her hand to Lisa's and slowly rising to her feet. I followed her, turning my attention to Norm and Max. "We should get going," I told them. "It'll be getting dark soon, and it looks like you might be here a while, unless you want to set up camp out here."

Norm glanced at Max and Alex. "Lead the way," he urged.

I bowed my head, looking at Eyreal and then turning to lead them away from the Samson. It got quiet, and none of us did anything to change that despite Hometree being a good five kilometers away.

* * *

While the commotion around Hometree was normal for the feast everyone was preparing for, there was slightly more than I expected when we all reached the outer skirts of the village. There were hunters on alert, and even though they each nodded us all through, I could see tension in their faces and their weapons. I silently wondered what had happened while I was away from the village, but when I saw a group of riders milling around the grove behind Hometree attempting to keep the horses calm, I could see something wrong. I nodded to Eyreal for her to take everyone else further in to where Mo'at should have been waiting, moving on to the grove as a smaller group of riders entered the grove led by Tu'San and Taw'biht. Almost immediately, I noticed Ava riding with Taw'biht as her right arm set in a sling strapped to her chest.

As soon as I was close, they dismounted.

"What happened?" I demanded, even though I was more worried than angry.

"We were ambushed," Tu'San exclaimed. "Tipani warriors surrounded us as we were returning to village with supplies for _sawtute_. It was not easy to protect _'ewan'aw_ this time."

I moved to where Taw'biht was dismounting, and even though it looked like he could handle it, I reached for Ava to set her on the ground. "They were following you," I concluded. "They had to. Did everyone make it back?" I asked Tu'San, looking over Ava's injury as Taw'biht remained close.

"They did," he confirmed. "But we only barely got away."

I could see Ava was in pain, and I knew her arm was broken. Na'vi bones were supposed to be very hard to break, and I'd realized a long time ago that she still had Human blood in her from her mother. I'd never thought that half of her would make her vulnerable — not physically anyway.

"I wrap her arm for her," Taw'biht told me. "I try to keep her safe. But is difficult. Other People not so understanding anymore. And she look too different for them to accept. We lose _pa'li_ when they shoot with arrow, and her arm caught in _tswin_. She not complain."

I smirked at her, watching her breathe and clench her jaws. No tears. Just frustration. "Of course, she's not gonna complain," I said, lifting my hand to her face. "She's too proud to admit when she's annoyed." I looked at Taw'biht and then Tu'San, glancing around the grove and then seeing Thomas in the distance. I looked at Taw'biht again, bowing my head to him. "Thank you for helping her."

He bowed his head too, finding Ava's eyes with his own, and I watched her bow her head before I pulled her away toward the commons area of the village where Eyreal was helping Norm and the others settle into a small alcove. Ava didn't say anything while we walked, and I didn't do anything to prompt her. It was obvious she felt partially responsible for her own injury, but there was something else going on her eyes that made me feel a little uneasy. She'd never really had a look like this on her face, and I didn't know how to find out what was wrong.

Eyreal moved forward quickly, lifting her hands to Ava's arms. "You have been injured," she exclaimed softly. "What has happened?" she asked looking at me.

"The hunting party was ambushed while they were out," I told her. "Like before. They were being followed. I'm almost completely positive of it. Tu'San is one of our best hunters, and it's unlikely they could get the drop on him unless they were following him. They attacked the horse she was riding, and she got hurt."

Eyreal continued to look at Ava's arm, lifting her eyes to mine and then urging her through the village to where one of the healers was currently mixing salves for pain and cleansing. I watched them, moving further into the alcove where Norm was observing while Max, Lisa and Alex laid out mats to hold the supplies they would be taking back to the base.

"Who's watching Ops?" I asked Norm, noticing how he was following Eyreal and Ava with his eyes.

"Helen and Lori can hold things down," he assured me. "Plus Mitch and David are on alert in the lab. They'll keep us posted if anything happens."

I stepped closer to Norm, kneeling beside him quietly. "Nothing's going to happen, is it?" I asked.

He was quiet for a few seconds, still looking out into the village.

"Norm," I prompted.

He looked at me. "Of course not."

I scooted closer to him, speaking softly. "She's going to be okay," I said of Ava. "It's just a broken bone. She'll heal."

Again, he was quiet another few seconds. "It wouldn't have happened if she was on the base," he said softly. He must have felt the incredulous look I gave him, because he looked at me again. "I'm not saying it's your fault. It's just true."

"We've talked about this," I told him. "She doesn't belong there anymore. And the People here are finally starting to accept her. It's not just me anymore. These people care what happens to her. They protect her."

"Are you going to be able to protect her all the time?" he asked, and I knew it was a legitimate question. "Because it looks like she isn't even safe surrounded by your best hunters."

I glanced behind me, looking at Max and Lisa. Neither of them said anything, and I rose slowly, looking at Norm again. "I know it's not perfect. I know I can't watch her all the time anymore. But I told you it's on me now. I'll deal with it, and I won't have to do it on my own like I did when she got here."

Norm glanced at Max, and they communicated silently before Norm looked up at me. "You know I trust you, Jake," he said. "I have for ten years. I just don't want anything bad to happen."

I laid my hand over his shoulder. "Neither do I. It's okay. Try to settle in. There's probably some food we can get you for the night. That way we can walk back to the chopper in the morning."

Norm bowed his head, conceding for the time being, and I turned my attention to Max and Lisa.

"I can probably take one of you out with me," I prompted, looking more in Lisa's direction that Max's. "If you want to have a look around."

Lisa looked at Max, it seemed to ask for permission, and he smiled at her, still helping Alex with the mats.

"You go," he told her. "I got my tour a long time ago."

She smiled, moving closer to me, and I guided her out into the village as preparations for the feast still carried on. Most of the people ignored her but only because they were busy. She seemed to enjoy walking around without a mask on, and I had remind myself that she'd been breathing the air about as long as my body had.

"Have you ever been out here?" I asked her as we walked.

She looked up at me, silent a few seconds before she spoke. "The forest or the village?" she shot back.

I looked at her, seeing her smile and smiling myself. "Both," I prompted.

She nodded. "Both."

I stopped then, sitting over the tree root where I could see Ava and Eyreal sitting with a healer who was looking over her arm, and Lisa sat next to me. "Were you here in the village when Amelia was?" I asked. "When she was pregnant."

I could see a pained expression on her face, and I leaned closer. "I'm sorry," I said softly. "You don't have to answer that."

"No, it's okay," she said. She was quiet a minute, and then she spoke. "I was here with Grace," she said. "When she had her school. Warren and I helped Grace bring Amy out here when she was in her third trimester — or what would have been called her third trimester. And when Sylwanin was killed and we had to keep an eye on Amy, that's when she and I got close. We had to keep her so isolated. I hated her not being able to come back. She didn't like it either."

"I think some people here remember Amelia," I offered, hoping to lighten her sadness. "The girls who are friends with Ava mention her every now and then. I think Ava likes to hear what her mother was like before she was born."

A gentle smile crossed Lisa's face. "Amy was stubborn," she said, laughing softly. "She was indignant and hard on herself. But she was also kind. She understood more about this place than just about everyone in the lab. Everyone except Grace of course. This place was Grace's life. But it was Amy's home. I never really understood that until after she was gone. And now it's my home too."

I scooted closer to her, turning her to face me and taking her hands in mine. I was immediately reminded of the night Grace had died and how small her hands had been inside mine. "Is that why you starting doing experiments on yourself without someone to keep an eye on you?" I asked softly.

She opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by Ava, who was now free of her sling and making her way to where we were sitting.

"Lisa?" she exclaimed, smiling as she hurried closer.

I stood up to make room, and Ava knelt in front of Lisa easily, wrapping her arms around her.

"Lisa!" she whispered happily.

Lisa held Ava just as tightly, whispering softly. "It's good to see you too, baby," she gushed, and Ava leaned back to look at her. "Oh, you're so beautiful!"

Ava smiled wide, lifting her fingers to Lisa's face. But she didn't say anything, touching Lisa's forehead and then her own.

I noticed Ava's arm was still wrapped, and her fingers were slightly swollen. I wondered what the healer had done to make her arm stop hurting, because it didn't look like she was in pain anymore.

Eyreal moved to my side, whispering as Ava moved her arms around Lisa again. "_Ma tsahik_ has decided we will determine if _Ava-tsyìp _is ready for _Uniltaron_. After the feast, you must tell her of this, and we will discuss the best choice for her tomorrow."

I tried not to think about what it meant for her to be telling me this instead of Mo'at. It seemed clear to me that the elder woman had already made her decision, and it didn't look like I was being given any leeway where Ava was concerned. I knew I was supposed to make sure Ava knew all the choices she had, since I was who she was closest to in the Clan. I knew I would eventually have to let her decide what was best for her, but listening to Eyreal sound so final made me feel like the decision had already been made.

"_Ma sempul,"_ Thomas exclaimed, slamming into me from behind and catching me completely off guard. "Norm said I could go back to the base with him to help with supplies! Can I go? Please?"

I glanced over my shoulder, holding onto Thomas as he latched onto me and looking in Norm's direction to see him coming closer with a small smile on his face. "Well, they're probably not going until tomorrow morning," I told Thomas, lifting my eyes to Norm's as he arrived at where we were all sitting.

"I know," Thomas insisted. "Please? I want to run through the obstacle course now that I'm bigger than I used to be."

Norm sat down beside Lisa, looking at me from across her and Ava, and Thomas stood up to sit next to him.

"He's certainly attached to you now," I commented, watching Norm blush slightly.

"Either that," Norm said, "or he just really likes the obstacle course. I don't guess it matters since the only way for him to get there is by banshee or Samson. So either you'd have to take him or I could, but only if it's okay with you. We won't leave until morning, so you don't have to decide now."

"No, it's okay," I said to which Thomas' already smiling face brightened immediately. "I know he's safe with you."

Norm blushed again, laughing softly. "Thanks. That actually means a lot coming from you. I also, um, needed to talk to you. About your scans," he said, the smile on his face fading slightly.

I glanced at Ava, seeing her still holding onto Lisa but also silently listening to the two of us talk softly. I bowed my head, acknowledging what he'd said without saying anything and silently agreeing that we would talk about it when it was just the two of us. I didn't know if it was selfish or not, but I didn't want anyone to know there might be something really wrong with me, and if it turned out to be nothing, then I didn't want to worry anyone who might think it was serious. I especially didn't want Mo'at to know, when I knew she would want to assist Norm in his prodding.

"_Ma sempul,"_ Thomas said, and I lifted my eyes to his. "When _tsmuke_ is ready for a mate, can I choose him as well?"

I gazed at him curiously, unsure who he was referring to until Eyreal leaned in and spoke softly.

"I believe he is speaking of _Ava-tsyìp_," she informed me.

I'm not sure if I blushed, but she smiled, touching my face. I didn't know what to say, feeling words get stuck in my throat as I struggled for the right thing to say. Was Thomas confused, thinking Ava was his sister, with the way I'd been teaching her and looking after her? Or did he mean 'sister' the way the other hunters probably did? Just thinking about it was making me confused.

"Well," I said to him, trying desperately not to stutter. "We'll see, okay?"

He smiled then, nodding and agreeing.

While Eyreal guided Ava, Lisa and Thomas further down into where the people were gathering with activities for the feast, Norm and I slowly made our way up into the highest branches of Hometree so we could have a little privacy since just about everyone was on the ground. He'd stopped at the alcove where Max and Alex were still spreading mats for the supplies, gathering up the few things he needed and then following me without a word.

Even with his shoes, Norm was a lot better at climbing now that he'd been out here enough, and he barely made any noise. After ten years, it seemed like he'd adapted to his surroundings like I had, and I figured he liked not having to wear his mask. It had been a few weeks since he'd been out here, and I knew by the sound of his voice that he probably didn't have good news, but I was hoping it wasn't as bad as I'd been thinking. The last thing I needed was to have to sleep again while he ran more tests. I hadn't really had any dreams lately, but I'd been so busy. It didn't surprise me.

"I can't begin to explain this where you'll understand it," Norm said as we reached our destination and promptly pulled his scanner from his pack. "But I'm gonna try. Max said it might be possible to make it stop, but I think that would include drugs, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to do that."

"What's wrong with me?" I asked, sitting over the branch in front of him and watching him move his scanner over my head.

His face went from hopeful to disappointed, and I knew it wasn't going to be good. Then he put the scanner away and lifted his eyes to mine. "Okay, here goes. Um, I don't actually think anything is necessarily _wrong_ with you."

I leaned in closer, hoping I'd heard him wrong. "Come again?" I asked.

"I don't think anything is wrong with you," he said again. "But let me try to explain. Yes," he said, "you've been having very vivid dreams, and some of them have even kept you under for several hours. And yes, your brain activity and synaptic activity is relatively high, even for the body you're in right now. But with what you've told me, what you've seen and everything that's happening, I honestly don't think it's wrong. In fact, I believe it's very right. Given your unique situation."

He paused, and I took the minute he gave me to speak. "But what does it mean?" I asked softly. "It's not normal, and I don't have any control over it. How can that not be wrong, or at least a little strange?"

Norm grinned. "Oh, I didn't say it wasn't a little strange. Trust me, after me and Max looked at these readings, we both agreed this is seriously messed up. But like you said, you don't have any control over it. Which means something or someone is doing it for you. You're being shown these things for a purpose, even if we might not know what they're for just yet. Have you had anymore dreams since leaving the base the last time?"

I bowed my head, laying my eyes over my hands as I began fidgeting slightly. "No," I said softly. "But we've been so busy. And I've had a lot of other things on my mind. With Ava and a few other things."

"Yeah, you mentioned that. I hope I didn't overstep my boundaries," he insisted. "I just want you to know all of it in advance. Because body age or not, you're really a grown-up, Jake. And even around here, she's still very young. There might be a lot of things she's ready for, but have you even considered the idea of her being with anyone else? I know how much you care about her, and I know how much you've already sacrificed. But make sure you let her make her own choice, and not the one you want her to choose. Okay?"

I nodded solemnly, and Norm sat down in front of me, leaning over his folded legs as he went on.

"As far as these dreams, since we both know what you've been through, Max and I came up with a layman's term for what might be happening to you."

I lifted my eyes to his, smirking slightly. "And?"

"It's almost like you're a tuning rod," he said. "You know the antennae on the satellite we use to monitor space for debris and collect data from the other stars in the system?"

I nodded.

"Well, that satellite also receives data from all around us. It can sometimes record hours of just nothing – space noise, off-handed transmissions from Earth, even a few classified data streams that were supposed to be shut down a few years ago. And they're just getting here now. And when we first started getting all of it, we had no way of decrypting any of it. But time passed, and we figured all of it out. I think that's what's happening to you."

I smiled, chuckling softly. "You think I'm like a satellite now?" I teased.

"Pretty much. I started thinking about it after you told me what you were dreaming about. Especially where the shuttle is concerned. A lot of dream analysts would probably deduce that I could've put that idea into your head, and your unconscious was just trying to understand it. But you were shown all this for a reason. Maybe it's just so you'll know, maybe it's because you're meant to do something about it. We're not sure. But there's nothing wrong with you, Jake. So we're not going to operate like there is. Which is why I called in a specialist," he said, looking down into the tree and then nodding slightly.

I turned my attention to the space around us, noticing Mo'at and Eyreal coming closer with jars and mixing pods in their hands. I wasn't sure if it showed on my face, but I stood up quickly, unintentionally glaring down at Norm. "You told her?" I shouted. "Why did you tell her?"

"You should've told her," he exclaimed. "Jake, you might be the clan leader, but you were also her daughter's mate. For all intents and purposes, you're her son just as much as Neytiri was her daughter. She should've known about this when it first started. Plus, I need her help. So I had to tell her."

"But I wanted to handle it myself," I bellowed, causing him to back up a couple of steps.

Mo'at took him by the shoulders, speaking calmly even with her eyes trained on me. "Be still, _'eylan_," she said to him, then speaking to me. "Be calm, _ma 'itan_. He meant no harm. It is all right for me to have this knowledge. You require assistance. This is my responsibility as _tsahik_."

I tried to argue with her helplessly. "But I don't — "

"Sit," she commanded.

I lowered my eyes to Norm, seeing that he was trying not to smile, and I huffed loudly, sitting back down as Mo'at and Eyreal moved closer to me.

The last time I'd been put into a chemically-induced hallucination-like state, I'd been undertaking the Dream Hunt myself as a way of being accepted into the Clan. Of course, this had been after I'd already successfully completed my first hunt and bonded with my _ikran_, so it was the last step for me to take. At the time, I'd never really thought about having to do it again — the chemically-induced part anyway. So when Mo'at and Eyreal set out a series of jars and pods, it was hard for me to hide my hesitation. Eyreal moved behind me, laying her hands over my shoulders and speaking soothingly.

"Be calm, Jakesully," she whispered. "_Ma tsahik_ is wise. She will know what to do to help you."

I glanced at her, realizing her touch was actually keeping me calm. "And you're here because ?"

My tone indicated my question, and she spoke again.

"I _am_ training," she reminded me. "Though this is unique situation, it is still good practice. So that I may help when another time arises."

I sighed heavily, lifting my eyes to Mo'at as she began to chant softly. I could understand most of what she was saying as she dipped her fingers into the pods and then lifted her fingertips to my face. She traced straight lines from my forehead to my chin, and I closed my eyes, listening to her as Eyreal continued to keep me still.

"_Guide me, Great Mother,"_ Mo'at prayed. _"Give him eyes to See your Will. Give him ears to hear your words. Grant him knowledge to understand your wishes. Guide me, Great Mother, so that I might help him See the path laid before him. Trust in him your wisdom and your greatness."_

She chanted this more times than I could count, finally resting her hands over my shoulders as her palms now laid covered in paint, and when I felt the sting at the back of my neck, it only took a few seconds for me to feel the effects of the arachnoid's psychoactive venom. But it was strange because I could still feel their hands on me, and I could still hear Mo'at's chanting. When I didn't slip into the hallucination-like part of the ritual, I opened my eyes to see Mo'at and Norm watching me.

"For the next several hours," she began, "the venom will work its way through your body until you reach a state of relaxation and peace. While you rest tonight, the Great Mother will guide you in your sleep and give you the answers you seek. In the morning, after we have administered the proper antidote, we will discuss your dreams. I will expect to see you when the sun rises."

I bowed my head low, waiting for her to rise and then listening to her speak diplomatically toward Norm.

"You have gained a new level of my trust, Norm Spellman," she said to him, purposefully breaking his name into two words. "I very much appreciate your need to inform me of this situation. If Eywa truly is speaking through Jakesully, we will discover this together."

Norm blushed, grinning slightly and nodding. "Thank you, _ma tsahik_. And thank you for helping. The more we know about this, the more we'll be able to help later on."

She laid her hand over his shoulder again, looking back at me with intense conviction and then proceeding to leave without another word. Though the sun was still high, I could tell almost an hour had passed, and I knew it was getting late. Norm moved closer to me, stepping around the jars to where Eyreal was rising while still keeping me sat down.

"How does it feel?" he asked me softly.

Slowly the dizziness made itself known, and I was grateful for Eyreal's insistence that I remain on my ass. "Weird," I informed him. "Not at all like last time. Must not have been a full-grown one, or I don't think I'd be sitting upright."

He smiled. "Can you stand?"

I lifted my hands to my head, keeping my eyes closed so I couldn't see anything spinning. "I don't think I should get up just yet."

He moved closer to me, laying his small hand over my shoulder. "Well, then stay here until you're sure you won't fall. I'll see you on the ground, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

He turned to leave, and I called him back. "Thanks," I told him.

He smiled again, nodding. "No problem."

He turned and left then, chuckling softly as he walked away.

"He is a good friend," Eyreal said softly, moving to sit in front of me and collecting the jars and pods. "He understands you."

"And that's not easy?" I asked.

She smiled, moving the jars and pods out of the way and then reaching for my hands to help me to my feet. "Jakesully is not easy to understand," she said, guiding me along the branch slowly. I could feel the moss beneath my feet, but honestly, I felt so light that I could have been floating. So much for eating or drinking. There was no need.

"I'm not difficult," I argued. "I just . . . have trouble trusting people. And Norm and me weren't always what you would call friends. In fact, right after I got here, he was actually pretty pissed at me."

Slowly, we made our way down the interior of the tree, and she spoke softly. "I have not heard this story," she said, the sound of her voice coming at me from several feet away. "Please tell me this."

I tried to concentrate, the memories bubbling up slowly. "Well, I wasn't supposed to be here," I told her. "And I got sent here in my brother's place."

"Tom," she recalled. "_Ma tsmukan._ I have heard of him. _Nga 'itan_ bears his name."

"Right," I said. "Well, Tommy was real smart. And he knew a lot of stuff about this place. But he died, and they sent me here because of this," I said, laying my hand on my chest. "It belonged to him first. When Neytiri found me in the forest that day and took me to Hometree, I effectively took Norm's place as the ambassador to the Clan. And he was _not_ happy about it. For a while. But I guess he realized how being angry wasn't going to solve anything, so he started to help me."

"And now he is like brother to you," she said as we finally reached the ground near the alcove where Max and Alex were waiting with Lisa and Norm.

I honestly hadn't thought of it like that, even after all the years we'd been working together to keep the peace, but it made sense. Norm was like a brother to me, in just about every way that counted. Even if he was in his Human body, and I was in my avatar, I couldn't think of a better word for the way I felt about him. At that thought, I stopped Eyreal's advance and turned her to face me.

"I need you to know this before anything else happens," I said to her. "I need you to know that I understand my responsibilities to the Clan, and to you. Especially now that Mo'at is trusting you to advise over Ava's situation with me. But I can't deny the way I feel or the way she might feel, and I want you to know that unless she tells me without a doubt that she wants to go through with the Dream Hunt, I'm not going to make her do it. And I know what that means for any one who's expressed interest in her as a mate. I can't say I don't . . . feel things for her that confuse me. And I can't say I won't . . . act on them. But I just wanted you to know. I want you to be prepared for whatever she decides. I — " She lifted her fingers to my lips, silent for almost half a minute before she spoke.

"I have known this for a long time," she revealed, to which I closed my eyes again. "And I do understand. I told you. I listen to her when she speaks to me. And I know that she is as confused as you are, perhaps more because there are others she cares for who have also done for her what you have. But I know you will do what is best for her. I trust you, Jake," she said softly, causing me to open my eyes as I realized she'd never called me that before. "Ava trusts you. I know you will not betray that trust. So please, do not worry over me. We must be united, remember? Even if we are not mated."

I bowed my head again, and she turned to guide me further out into the people who were gathering and cooking for the feast.

* * *

Despite having psychoactive venom apparently coursing through my veins, after a few hours of walking around and getting used to it, I actually couldn't feel anything but normal. The sun went down slowly, and the festivities began with the normal dancing and singing that accompanied most of our feasts. This time around, we'd actually killed more than we had in several years, and the cookers were already saying we would have plenty to last us for several months — even after providing Norm and the others on the base with a healthy supply.

Max and Alex expressed a little discomfort early on, especially with the inability to breathe without their masks. But after a little while, most of the people seemed to forget they were even wearing them. And I found some food for them to eat that wouldn't make them sick so they could at least get a little sustenance for the night and wouldn't have to fly back to the base hungry. Norm and Lisa actually fit in much better than I'd expected, even with Norm having been there previously in his current state. With him being able to breathe the air and eat the food and drink with everyone, it was almost like he was one of them, despite the fact that he was far too overdressed. Lisa resigned herself to sit with several of the younger children, telling them stories and only eating and drinking a little since it was obvious she didn't want to impose.

I didn't mind either way. Even though I could move around without anyone guiding me for fear I would tip over or run into something, I still felt buoyant all night. I didn't think anything could get me down, at least not until I saw Ava talking to Taw'biht away from everyone else. Aside from when she'd been talking to Lisa, I don't think I'd ever seen a look of content on her face, but while I watched her talk to him, I could see something more than just an ambush from a neighboring clan had happened while they'd been out. I noticed the way they stood near each other, and when she laid a gentle hand over his chest, I couldn't stop the swell of jealousy in my own chest. I remembered what Norm had said earlier about making sure I let her make her own choice, but I couldn't hide the fact that I still wanted her to choose me. And I knew if I held it in, it would affect everything that happened down the road.

My eyes inadvertently followed Ava most the night, even while I was eating and even when I could feel Eyreal nearby. Every time I saw her, I thought about how she'd said my name and what it had actually meant for her to say those things to me. Unlike Mo'at, Eyreal was willing to let me mate my own choice as well, instead of simply pushing me to make Ava's choice for her. Even after ten years, it seemed like it was still okay to choose someone's make for them, but I wasn't going to do that for Ava. Not even if it seemed like it was for her own good. If she ended up being unhappy, how was that a good thing?

As the night wore on and most of the people began turning in for the night, I found Ava by herself in the grove with one of the horses as it grazed beside her, and after making sure Norm, Lisa, Max and Alex were all tucked away and after washing my face and shoulders, I made my way down to where she was, noticing for the first time that she was dressed differently from how she'd always been. Usually, she was donned in a breast band that apparently gave her more support the other girls in the Clan didn't need, but tonight, she was wearing a more decorative chest piece that was made of blue and green feathers tied together under her arms. I hadn't even realized how different it made her look with her hair pulled back from her face and her neck only adorned with the crimson-jeweled necklace Eyreal had given her weeks earlier.

"Nice night," I commented nonchalantly, attempting to make conversation.

Ava smiled, grasping onto the horse's reigns as she appeared to be guiding it around slowly. "It is," she agreed. "But most nights here usually are. Even when it's raining."

I nodded once, reaching her side and noticing that she was also linked to the horse. "True," I amended. I gestured to the horse. "Expecting someone?"

I could see her blush even in the low light, and she gently bit her lower lip. "Maybe," she offered.

I stepped closer to her, taking her free hand in mine. "We need to talk," I told her. "Come on. I want to show you something."

"Are you sure that's safe?" she asked, even as I helped her onto the horse and then mounted behind her. We exchanged places with the horse, allowing me to link with him so I could tell him where to go.

"We're not going far," I told her, urging the horse forward away from the grove without really telling her where we were going. "Besides, where we're going, no one would even dream of attacking anyone there. It's a sacred place. Like _Vitraya Ramunong_. I'll explain when we get there."

The ride to our destination wasn't nearly as long as the ride to the Tree of Souls, or even the waterfall, and as we neared the soft glow of the glade, I was reminded why we had chosen our Hometree when we'd found it.

Four days before we'd fought the humans and forced them off the surface, Neytiri and I had taken each other as mates under the glow of the Tree of Voices, _Utral Aymokriyä_, and the next morning, it had been destroyed by bulldozers on their way to Hometree. Mo'at hadn't wanted to leave the Tree of Souls, but I'd known, and so had Neytiri, that we'd need a more permanent Home. So we'd sent scouts out to find a more appropriate place for everyone to stay. I'd even asked Norm to help, since they'd still had access to the orbital satellites at the time, and when all our sources had pointed us to where we were now, Neytiri and I had investigated it. And then we'd found this place — another site of _Utral Aymokriyä_ even though it wasn't nearly as big as its predecessor. Just the sight of it had brought tears to Neytiri's eyes, as more than six months had passed since the destruction of the Tree of Voices near where her Hometree had been detroyed.

_Eywa has blessed us for our perseverance,_ she'd reveled, connecting to the tree even though she'd already been several months pregnant. _We must give our thanks to Her._

Every time I'd flown over this part of the forest since her death, I'd always thought of how happy she'd been when we'd found it. I knew she was at rest now. And it was time for me to move on.

"Jake," Ava whispered as we arrived. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Depends on what you think it is," I quipped, allowing her to the ground and then following her as I disconnected from the horse.

"But I thought it was destroyed," she remembered, turning to me as I gazed around through the tendrils of the trees to see tiny seeds floating around.

I reached for several of the tendrils, running them through my hands and allowing them to brighten as I spoke. "Well, that tree _was_ destroyed. And about six months later, after Norm helped us find our new home, Neytiri and I found this. I'd only thought that one was the only one. But Eywa provided. Just as She always does. She never takes anything away without there being something already in place to keep the balance."

Ava moved around through the tree, pulling a few tendrils into her hands and automatically pulling her queue around to connect to them. It looked like she didn't really need me to tell her what the tree was for, but I spoke involuntarily, thinking of the first time Neytiri and I had been alone like this.

"This is where Eywa can hear your prayers," I whispered, taking my own queue and latching onto a few of the tendrils myself. Instantly, I could hear a mixture of voices — old, young, happy and sad all at once. "And sometimes, they're answered too. Sometimes, I still wonder what Neytiri prayed for the first time she brought me to a place like this."

I looked at Ava, seeing distance in her eyes and pulling my queue from the tree as I stepped closer to her. She looked at me, and I knew what was wrong. I didn't need to see into her thoughts or feelings, and I didn't really need to share my conscious thoughts with her to know what she was thinking about. Slowly, I lifted my hands to her arms, whispering softly.

"What did he say?" I asked, and I didn't have to say his name since I'd seen her talking to him earlier.

She lowered her eyes from mine. "How much he hoped it wouldn't hurt him to go through _Uniltaron_," she said softly. "And how much he wanted to turn back time so he could have been . . . with me to see everything I'd achieved. I know Rey'sik has already gone through his rite, and I know he hasn't chosen a mate either." She lifted her eyes back to mine. "I know Tu'San talked to you about me doing it too."

I inhaled deeply, immediately thinking of the talk I'd had with him and remembering how certain he'd been of her wanting to go through with her own rite. But the look on her face now told me a completely different story. "He did talk to me," I confirmed with a nod. "And he was absolutely certain you would want to go through with it. But Ava, you don't have to do it if you don't want to. Mo'at already said it was your choice. No matter what Tu'San wants, you have to think about what you want."

She lifted her hands to my arms, stepping a little closer to me. "What will the people think of me if I don't do it?" she asked. "Will they still consider me a part of them? Will it still be right for me to be here?"

Gently, I lifted my fingers to her face. "You belong here, Ava," I said softly. "You've _always_ belonged here, a long time before you were ever here with the Omaticaya. You wouldn't be here if your mother hadn't prayed to Eywa and understood how this place worked. It doesn't matter if you don't ever do everything the People here have done. It'll only matter if you choose to do it. And the People accepted you when you saved the life of a boy you had no reason to save. They knew you would do the right things, and they didn't care that you looked different. And Rey'sik doesn't care what you look like anymore. It doesn't matter why he chose to complete his own Hunt."

"Did you?" she asked. Then she added, "choose to do it."

I sighed softly. "Yes. But it was something I _had_ to do. I was here for a completely different purpose when I got here, and I didn't know the difference when I started to learn. By the time I got to the point where it was time, I didn't just do it because I needed to. I wanted to do it, Ava. I'd never really belonged anywhere until I belonged here. And at that point, I wanted to be accepted by them more than I wanted to serve the people who'd sent me out here. But you don't have to do this, not unless you choose to. Do you understand that?"

"Did you do it for her?" she asked, and I knew she was talking about Neytiri.

"She was one of the reasons," I admitted. I'd always known it was true, but it didn't seem necessary to say anything about it until now, especially when it sounded like she was asking what I think she was asking. "But she wasn't the only reason."

She lowered her eyes again, grinning slightly. "So if there was someone I wanted to do it for, would that be okay?" she asked softly. "I mean, if I knew what I was getting myself into and I knew what the consequences were if it didn't look like it was going to turn out the way I wanted."

"Do you know what you're getting yourself into?" I asked softly, now standing as close to her as I ever had. "Did Taw'biht tell you what you would be getting yourself into and what the consequences would be?"

"No, but why would he?"

I could feel myself blushing, feeling like I had to decipher what she was saying without knowing who or what she was talking about. "Isn't he the one you're talking about?" I whispered, a thin layer of dread laced through my voice.

"No," she said simply.

She lifted her hand to my face, and I looked at her, seeing a wider grin on her face. "Jake," she said gently, caressing my cheek. "You have to know how I feel by now."

"But I see you when you talk to him," I countered quietly.

"And I've been telling him for weeks that he is only a friend," she assured me. "And tonight, I think he finally understands. From the very beginning, you've been patient with me, and you've never doubted me."

I tried to stop her, knowing that I'd lied to Tu'San about not wanting her to go through with her own Dream Hunt. But she wouldn't let me, laying her fingers over my lips to keep me quiet.

"Most everyone else," she continued, laughing softly, "with the exception of Thomas, all had to get used to me. They all had to understand I wasn't going to cause them any trouble. You fought for me and protected me the best you could, and even if you've made mistakes, I've made mistakes too. And I — I don't want to think about what my life would be like now if you hadn't found me." She smiled, already on her toes as she leaned in as close to me as she could. I realized my hands had fallen to her waist, and though she was nearly two feet shorter than me, it didn't feel strange to have her so close.

"You found me, Jake," she told me. "No one else. And no matter how much anyone else who's said as much would want, it's always been you."

I was close enough to her to lay my forehead against hers, and she leaned in even closer, her soft breath brushing over my lips.

She squeezed me gently, leaning back and then stepping further into the glade. I followed her slowly.

"Rea told me when I was ready for this that I would have to choose the one I wanted," she said softly, kneeling to the moss and silently inviting me to kneel in front of her. I barely hesitated, following her silently. "She also said he would have to choose me. And when I knew the one I wanted, I would know it the way I'd known how to choose Hawnuyu."

She paused, and I leaned closer. "Is this going somewhere?" I asked her softly.

She reached for my face, caressing the skin over my forehead and then spreading her palms over my cheeks as she leaned closer to me kissing me all on her own. It had been a little while since we'd actually been alone like this, since it had been a relatively hectic few weeks since being on the base, and it felt like it had been too long since I'd kissed her. She scooted closer to me, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and leaning back to lay her forehead over mine.

"I choose you," she whispered, laying her hand over the back of my head and easing the length of her nose along mine and allowing her lips to brush against mine. Chills eased my spine, causing me to shake gently, and she smiled.

I held her as tight against me as I could without hurting her, whispering back as softly and gently as I could. "I kind of figured," I breathed, kissing her again and then leaning back to look into her eyes. I had to make sure she knew what it meant for us to be here alone and to be doing this now. "I promise from now on, no more secrets. I can't say I won't still go above and beyond all your expectations of me, but I won't ever lie to you again. Not about me or this or us. Okay?"

She smiled, again gently biting her lip and nodding while still holding onto me.

I lifted my hands to her head, kissing her forehead and then lowering my lips to hers. At the same time, I reached for my own queue, pulling it over my shoulder and prompting her to do the same. I silently wondered exactly what Eyreal had told her about mating, since it could include a lot of things I didn't know if Ava was fully prepared for, but when she lifted the end of her queue to mine and allowed the undulating tendrils to entwine, I forgot everything except Ava. I forgot all the rules and I forgot about keeping up traditions and appearances. I lowered my hands to her hips, pulling her to me and allowing every feeling and thought coming from her to permeate my entire being. It had been so long since I'd done this. I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to be so deeply connected with someone I loved, and immediately, everything became astonishingly clear.

Ava's reaction to the bond was a little more obvious than mine, her hands grasping onto my shoulders and then her fingers slipping up the back of my neck to where the nerve ending were resting against my scalp. She rested her forehead against mine, pressing her chest to mine and making me acutely aware of the fact that she wasn't as covered now as she normally was.

"Jake," she whispered softly.

I said nothing, reveling in the sensations washing over my shoulders and settling into the center of my body. Though it had been a little more than eight months since I'd actually _mated_, I was surprised how much I wanted nothing more than to sit there and hold Ava in my arms. So for several minutes, that's all we did. Whether we did anymore than that would be completely up to her.

Along with the immediate onslaught of feelings and desires, I could also see every memory and thought Ava had ever experienced. And while she'd obviously bonded with _pa'li_ on several occasions and also bonded with her _ikran_, I realized it wasn't the first time she'd bonded with a person — a person a lot like me. I instantly knew how Eyreal knew what she needed and wanted, even though it should've been obvious to me by now. Except I now knew it hadn't only been happening for the last seven or eight months. And while I was connected to Ava, I could see memories of it all the way back to when she'd been a little girl.

"How long?" she whispered, leaning her face into mine and holding onto me tighter.

"How long what?" I asked softly, unconsciously grasping onto the ties of her chest piece and wanting to remove it.

"How long has it been since you did this?"

"Too long," I insisted instantly, kissing her softly and whispering urgently. "Is it okay if I . . ."

"Yes," she breathed, kissing me back and stroking the back of my head around the nerve endings of me queue.

I tried not to rip the ties unevenly, pulling the feathers out of the way and pressing her bare chest against mine. I couldn't really think about anything anyone had told me up to now, and I didn't really care. The only thing I cared about Ava, and I knew all she cared about was me. The whole world had completely shrunk to include only the two of us, and now that I knew something about her no one else was ever gonna know, I felt better and I wasn't confused anymore. The clarity was incredible.

Either I was too tall or she was too short, but I finally pulled her as close to me as she could get, straddling me the way she had the day of her first hunt, and as the memory passed through my mind, I felt her smile. I didn't have any trouble concentrating, thinking of her and knowing what she wanted. She wanted what I wanted, and even though we didn't need words anymore, she still spoke.

"I See you, Jake," she whispered. "All of you."

I pressed my forehead to hers, easing my hands down her back to her waist and then her hips, whispering back softly. "I See you."

While I'd expected just to be there with her, our bonding only spiritual in nature, _she_ was the one who initiated our next movements, leaning back onto the moss-covered ground and pulling me with her until I was above her. I couldn't hide my surprise, even as I laid over her gently to keep from hurting her and propped an arm above her head. She was so much smaller than I was, but it didn't seem to bother her, especially when she took my free hand in hers and entwined our fingers tenderly. I probably could have laid there all night, simply gazing into her eyes and feeling every little pang of emotion moving from her body to mine. And it looked like she could too. In the short amount of time we'd been connected, I'd already seen so many of her memories, and I knew she was feeling most of mine.

"We don't have to, you know, mate," I said gently, rubbing her temple with the pad of my thumb and feeling a pressure point as her heart was clearly pumping blood to her entire body with astonishing pace. I could feel my own heart racing, and in that moment, I didn't really need anything else. I knew I would eventually, since it was inevitable, on her part and mine. But it would be her body to tell her when she was ready, and I couldn't do it for her.

"Did you mate with her the first time you bonded with her?" she asked softly.

I realized my memories were working to influence her, but I couldn't lie to her, not after promising I wouldn't ever again. "I did," I nodded. "But I don't want that to influence whether you do. Are you ready?"

"Won't it be strange if we don't?" she pleaded.

I didn't want to answer that, since I knew now that we'd already bonded, it would be expected for us to mate — at least eventually. I tried not to let her know that, but with our connection still intact, it was impossible to hide anything from her.

She blushed gently, biting her lower lip and moving her free hand up the side of my chest to pull me closer to her. "Do you want to, you know, mate?" she asked, a small smile easing over her lips.

I couldn't deny the way she was making me feel, both mentally and physically, and she seemed to be aware of that, lightly rubbing the pads of her toes up the back of my leg. I had to close my eyes as I shook with a set of heavy chills, and I nodded silently.

"Then why wait?" she pressed, lifting her head and rubbing the tip of my nose with hers. Her lips brushed against mine, and the sensations all returned with the quick ignition of a match and dynamite.

I took her invitation easily, kissing her more deeply than I ever had before and cursing inwardly toward every warning I'd been given, every bit of advice I'd been afforded, every chance I'd been given to turn back. The satisfaction I could feel coming from her was enough to shut all of that out, and it allowed me to focus on her completely, especially when I realized I was going to be the first man she was ever going to be with — regardless of what had happened when she'd been younger.

Her skin was so smooth, so much smoother than I remembered after the eight months I'd been touching her during her training. The bioluminescent spots over her stripes glowed brighter whenever my fingers slid over them, and her freckles got darker. She held onto me tighter as I moved my lips over her chin to her neck, and the proof of her reaction to me was in the intense speed of her pulse. I took her hands in mine, rolling over to have her on top of me and then sitting up in front of her to kiss the spots over her bare collarbone. She was warmer now than she had been only a few minutes earlier, and she inhaled deep, leaning back to look at me while pulling her hair from her bare chest. I knew she meant for me to look at her, and with nothing in the way, I laid my eyes on her for the first time since the day I'd found her.

Even though most of the women in the village carried on with barely anything covering them most days, Ava was a little different and usually needed more coverage since she was what most Human men would call endowed. But she wasn't embarrassed or even bashful about taking my hand and laying it over the left side of her chest — where her heart was absolutely giving her away. I leaned in closer, kissing her lightly and whispering softly.

"Nervous?" I asked, grinning slightly.

With her fingers encircling the nerve endings of my queue, she stroked gently, and I shivered, air catching in my throat and allowing her to lay her mouth over mine. She eased her fingertips down my spine, causing me to shake with chills again as her tongue mated with mine slowly. I could sense her rhythm then, wrapping my own hands around the back of her head to give her a taste of her own medicine. The instant the tips of my fingers made contact with her own nerve endings, she let go of my mouth, moaning softly and grasping onto my waist where the straps of my loincloth were resting loosely. I caressed her spine myself, allowing her to adjust as she whispered against my lips.

"Should I be nervous?" she questioned.

I lifted my hands to her face, rubbing the pads of my thumbs over her cheeks and caressing the tip of her nose with mine. "Do you want me to go first?"

She tugged on my loincloth, a hint of mischief shining in her eyes. "Only if I get to go first next time."

I couldn't keep from smiling wider than I had since that morning, holding her tighter for a few seconds and then allowing her to her knees while I reached back to remove my loincloth. She moved one way and then the other, giving me room on both sides to successfully make myself naked, and she lowered my hands to her hips where her own loincloth was resting.

"Are you sure?" I whispered against her lips.

She eased her hands up my arms to my shoulders, scooting closer to me as she still straddled my hips. "I'm sure," she confirmed, laughing softly and leaning in closer to kiss me while she pulled me up to press my chest to hers.

I needed no further encouragement, and apparently, neither did she, still stroking the back of my neck and keeping her body close to mine while my hands worked on their own in gently removing her last article of clothing. She never stopped me, even when I thought she might. Her wandering hands found my lower back and the base of my tail, but she didn't do anything but stroke around it. Even doing that, it was enough.

While I expected certain things to go a certain way as Ava and I intensified the dance we'd begun, and I expected everything I was feeling to be different because I was with her, what I didn't expect were the psycho-venom enhanced dream that followed when Ava finally resigned herself to tracing the lines of bioluminescent marks over my chest and arms that were brighter now as we laid in each other arms. It had been too long since I'd been able to do what I was doing with her, and even as she refused to let me slip away from her hands, I found myself equally possessive, wrapping her limbs around my own body and inhaling her scent as deep into my lungs as I possibly could. Instantly, I was assailed with lavender and gardenia — two scents that I shouldn't have been able to smell being where I was. But I accepted it, watching her fall asleep in front of me as she held onto me with every centimeter of her arms encircling me. I had no concept of time, idly caressing the naked curves of her body and reveling in the utter contentment easing from her body and putting me into the most relaxed I'd ever been in my whole life.

I knew we hadn't mated tonight to conceive, since her body wasn't supposed to be in the right cycle for that to be possible. Tonight, I knew we'd mated because it had been both our choices to do so, and I wasn't worried about what anyone in the Clan would think. I only worried about Ava.

As far as the enhanced dream, well, all I can say is that Mo'at wasn't kidding about the guide. And she hadn't been playing by using the arachnoid, especially since she knew I would have known its purpose. When I'd first been stung, while under the watchful eyes of the Clan Elders and Neytiri, I'd experienced something that can only be described as an acid trip — especially with what I'd seen and what had happened. While I'd been expecting something resembling that experience, the dream I had while laying with Ava encompassed inside my arms was not the dream I'd been expecting. The first tip-off was the fact that I was still inside the base, walking somewhere through the dark corridors toward a predetermined destination.

I followed the dream, entering a large, white room where a tall, red-headed woman was standing by a gurney with a body covered by a sheet. Then the woman looked at me.

"Grace?" I asked, astonishment flashing across my face.

"Well, it's about time you showed up," she griped. "We've been waiting for you a long time, you know."

I moved closer to her, realizing I wasn't nine feet tall as I met her eyes in a way I never had before. She stared at me with unemotional eyes, an expectant look if there ever was one, and I looked at the gurney and the body that was mostly covered by the sheet. The sheet was pulled back from the face, and I immediately recognized Amy. I was immediately alarmed, afraid something horrible had happened to her.

"Is she okay?" I asked, worried.

Grace looked at her. "I don't know. She's been like this for a very long time. We were beginning to think you weren't coming. We can't keep her like this forever, you know."

I looked at Grace. "What are you talking about?"

She shook her head, smirking with a knowing glint in her eyes. "You know, you're a fast learner, marine, but in the time it takes you to put two and two together, lives are lost. People die. And making her wait like this is wrong — even for someone as incredibly stupid as you are."

I felt anger flush my face, and I set my jaw easily. "What are you talking about?"

Grace reached for my arms, lifting my hands in front of my face and showing me the human hands of my body, indicating I was in a human body, and not my avatar. "Do you think this is an accident, kid?" she demanded. "Do you think we don't already know what you've been up to? Do you really think it's all going to be easy from now on? God, you are stupid. I thought you'd learned by now."

"Learned what?" I demanded.

"The answer is staring you right in the face," she said, jabbing a finger in Amy's direction. Then she jabbed her finger into my chest. "And if you don't figure it out very soon, a lot more people are going to die. Is that what you think we want? Do you think we wanted her to end up like this while you got a clue?"

I looked at Amy, knowing this wasn't just about Tommy, but about her now too, but I still didn't understand.

"You're running out of time, marine," Grace told me. "And while you're out there answering the call of nature, a new fleet of problems is on its way toward you. Unless you want a repeat performance, you better get your act together. And you better do it fast. Now if you're not going to help us, then get out. We don't need you here anymore. You're taking up space."

She grabbed my shoulder, pulling me away from Amy even as I began to struggle. I didn't want to leave Amy if there was something I could do to help her. But Grace didn't seem to care, shoving me out of the room and slamming the door in my face.

* * *

"_Jake."_

Ava's voice came to me from a far distance away, and though I wanted to stay where I was, I somehow knew I couldn't, leaving the hallway to find my way back to her.

I woke feeling Ava's fingers caressing my face, and I opened my eyes, seeing her still in front of me as the golden light of dawn illuminated the tendrils above our heads. She smiled when she saw me open my eyes, whispering gently.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

I could only stare back at her, remembering every vivid detail of my dream and knowing something wasn't right anymore.

* * *

**Whew! Another chapter posted, and another chapter coming along quite nicely if I do say so myself. Can anyone honestly say they didn't see that one coming? Okay, maybe some people could, but not me. Nothing too racy, I don't think, but enough to get the point across right? That's always my goal. It's also a goal to make myself happy along with all my readers, and I have to admit, I'm very happy with this chapter. I hope you were too.**

**Also, I hope everyone was paying attention to all those "memory-lane"-like chapters, because the past and present are about to come face to face, in what I hope will be a most unexpected manner. But I'll let you decide if it was unexpected.**

**Anyway, enough of that. On with the definitions, cause there's A LOT.**

**_talioang - _Sturmbeest, kind of like the buffalo of the plains in their appearance and manner**

**_pa'li - _Big, damn horses, at least to us**

**_ikran - _Mountain Banshee, useful in a tight jam**

**_Uniltaron - _The Dream Hunt, which is a rite of passage into adulthood undertaken by hunters who've already made their first kill and tamed a banshee**

**_Ma tsahik - _Matriarch - Interpreter of Eywa (Mo'at, Neytiri, and Eyreal in training)**

**_Iknimaya - _Stairway to Heaven, the rite of passage for hunters who wish to tame their banshee**

**_tawtute - _Sky person**

**_Tse'a nga tsatseng. - _See you there.**

**_'Ewan'aw - _young one (Ava)**

_**Ava-tsyìp - **_**Little Ava**

**_olo'eyktan - _Clan Leader, this is Jake  
**

_**uniltìranyu - **_**Dream Walker**

**_'eylan - _friend**

**_Ma sa'nok - _Mother**

**_Sawtute - _Sky People**

**_tswin - _queue**

**_Ma sempul - _Father**

**_Tsmuke - _sister, and in this case, Thomas really is referring to Ava**

**_ma 'itan - _Son**

**_ma tsmukan - _brother**

**_nga 'itan - _you(r) son**

**_Vitraya Ramunong - _Tree of Souls**

_**Utral Aymokriyä -**_** Tree of Voices**

**_Hawnuyu - _Protector (This is the name of Ava's ikran)**

**

* * *

**

**Good grief, that's a lot of definitions! Sure hope I'm not going overboard with that dictionary. Anyhoo, here it is! I just want to thank all the people reading, all the people who've faved and put the story on their alerts. I especially want to thank you for the reviews. Sometimes, they really help me!**

**Until next time, Keep Calm & Carry On!  
**


	25. Readjustments

**Yay, I'm posting a new chapter! And it's a doozy if I do say so myself, and since it's my story, I can say that. I spent a couple of days proofreading to make sure everything was just the way I wanted it, and if there's anything I missed, I sincerely apologize, but what can I do?**

**I'm seriously happy with the way this chapter came out, and I hope everyone else is too. I really appreciate any feedback I've gotten so far, and I hope it keeps coming.**

**Read on!  
**

* * *

_**Readjustments**_

The first thing I felt compelled to do was make sure the area around the tree was safe. The last thing I needed was for me and Ava to be ambushed while she was out in the elements half-naked. And I realized upon closer inspection of her chest piece that I'd actually destroyed it in my, um, haste to remove it. Ava wasn't embarrassed, amazingly, nor was she deterred, moving the long waves of her hair around to cover her bare chest. Thankfully, neither one of us would have to ride back to the village loincloth-less, even though I did have trouble adjusting mine to where everything fit comfortably again. The _pa'li_ was waiting where we'd left him, and I was just about to help Ava onto his back when I heard foliage crunch under pressure.

My imagination ran away from me, and I dreadfully believed we'd been found. I was ready though, strapping my knife on and hurriedly helping Ava onto the horse.

"Stay here," I pleaded. "If I'm not back in a few minutes, get back to the village and get Hunters."

I pulled the horse's neural whip to her, allowing her to connect with him before I turned to make my way toward the sound I'd heard. I moved slow, easing over the moss of the tree and sniffing the air. Usually when a hunter was nearby, I could smell him, but for some reason, all I could smell was Ava. I suddenly remembered her as she waited for me, wanting to be closer to her to keep her safe — among other things. She was still in my sights, gently soothing the horse as he became restless. It was apparent he could sense the stranger as much as I could, maybe even more.

I moved as stealthily as I possibly could, hearing the same noise as before and drawing my knife. It was closer now, having only moved a short distance, and I closed in on it easily, even though I had no idea exactly what it was. Was I foolishly mistaking an animal for some scout from another clan come to spy on us? Had my advance been too slow and allowed him to get away? I wasn't sure anymore. Thankfully, or unthankfully for him, I smelled him the closer I got, recognizing a familiar scent and automatically driving through the brush toward him as he jumped from my attack.

"I mean no harm!" Rey'sik cried, finding himself at the end of my knife with fear in his eyes.

He panted heavily as I regarded him carefully, wondering silently if he'd been out here all night and thinking how incredibly stupid it had been for him to follow me. But he looked genuinely scared, and it was obvious he hadn't meant to get caught. I released him, sheathing my knife and then helping him to his feet. He averted his eyes to Ava's direction, bowing his head shamefully as he spoke to me softly.

"I have disrespected you," he whispered, his head hung low — so low I could barely see his eyes as he still stared at Ava.

"Look at me," I demanded, to which his head snapped up immediately. "How long have you been out here? All night?"

The color in his cheeks darkened intensely, and he began fidgeting steadily. "I become worried for safety of _olo'eyktan_ and _Ava'eylan_. When neither return to village, I become afraid they — you be found by neighboring Clan. I leave village very late, but find horse trail easy — follow you here. I mean only to keep lookout if other Clan attack. But I — "

"You saw us," I finished, barely able to contain my anger.

"I mean no harm," he exclaimed. "I did not watch! I try not to listen! I only mean to keep watch for neighboring Clan."

"Yeah, well, the minute you saw we were safe, you should have left," I roared in his face. "No one would dare to attack us here, and I didn't need anyone else from the village here. Or I wouldn't have come here in the first place."

"Please," he whispered bowing his head. "I tell no one. I promise."

I looked in Ava's direction as she waited, and I realized she could probably see me and hear me. I thought about how much I'd wanted the night before to be private and I know she'd wanted the same thing. But deep down, I'd also known that as soon as we'd gotten back to the village, it would have been obvious what we'd done, especially since we _had_ stayed out all night. I looked at Rey'sik, laying my hand over his shoulder and allowing him to look at me again. "You meant no harm, brother," I said gently, attempting desperately to calm myself even though I was still furious. "It's good that you care enough about Ava to want to keep her safe. But that's _my_ responsibility now, understand?"

He glanced in her direction, seeming to understand that I wasn't going to hold this against him this one time. He looked at me and nodded. "I understand, _olo'eyktan_. I will leave you now."

He hurried away then, out of my sight before I returned to where I'd left Ava and the horse. She didn't say anything as I mounted into the saddle behind her, holding her against me possessively and allowing her to guide the horse away from the tree. I couldn't help but feel a little relieved, even though I knew it wasn't good that even one person had seen us here. I remembered the last time I'd been in a place like this, thinking of how that site had been destroyed and wondering what unexpected thing would be awaiting me back at the village.

Even though it wasn't far, it took enough time for me to talk to Ava as the horse carried us silently. I suddenly remembered that Norm and Max were taking supplies back to the base with Lisa and Alex this morning and a group of hunters would be accompanying them to help them store the supplies properly. As Clan Leader, I knew I wasn't really required to go with them, but if Thomas was as adamant in going as I figured he was, then it would probably be a good idea for me to at least make sure everything got to the base all right. If I could manage it, I thought about leaving Mo'at and Eyreal here to oversee things in the village while I took Thomas and Ava back to the base for a little while.

"How are you this morning?" I asked Ava softly, and she wrapped her arm around mine before she spoke.

"I'm perfect," she murmured leaning back into me and inhaling deeply.

"Perfect?" I repeated. "Exactly what did we do last night to make you perfect this morning?" I teased.

She smiled, looking at me and leaning closer until her lips were only centimeters from mine. I kissed her gently, lifting my hand to back of her head and holding her closer. Even though I didn't want to stop, I decided it was probably best that we didn't show up at the edge of the village kissing, so I whispered to cover it up as best as I could.

"How did you sleep?" I whispered, gently urging her to make the horse speed up a little.

"I slept good," she nodded. "I had the most pleasant dream — about us."

I squeezed her against me. "Did you now?"

She laughed softly, holding my arm around her tighter. "Did you sleep okay?" she asked me, her eyes appraising me almost as easily as Mo'at's usually did — and Neytiri's.

I was surprised the thought of their names brought strange feelings, when I knew I wanted to spend what free time I had with Ava. I hadn't thought about any of that since the night before, but as we passed the outer edge of the village under the watchful eyes of the hunters keeping our borders protected, I realized I was about to have to explain my actions to a woman who for all intents and purposes was still my mother-in-law, if not also my son's grandmother. I wasn't really prepared with what to say, even though I knew I would come up with something between here and there, and I unconsciously began to think about that a little too intensely.

I never answered Ava.

I knew a large crowd was gathered around the center of the village before the horse got us into the grove just behind the village, and there was no way for me to hide my arrival as the hunters around the interior border nodded us on with their own set of gawks and ogles. I didn't say anything to them, silently allowing Ava to guide the horse to the grove and then easily dismounting to turn and help her.

"It's okay that we did this," she said softly, and I took her hand to pull her toward where everyone else was gathering. "Isn't it?"

"Of course it's okay," I promised her. "I am kinda the boss around here."

I tried to laugh, but I knew she was worried.

"Don't joke," she pleaded, grasping onto my hand and lifting her hand to my arm. "I know Rea's already been chosen to take over for Mo'at. And I know we were supposed to talk about my potential mates. Among other things."

I stopped and turned to her, lifting my hands to her face. "I know Mo'at has already chosen Eyreal to succeed her. And I know what we were supposed to talk about last night." I paused, smiling slightly. "And you gave me your answer. This was my decision as much as it was yours, and no one forced us into it. I know it's not going to be easy to explain, but that doesn't matter. Not to me. And Eyreal understands. I told her this was possible, and she knew it. Of course, now I know how she knew, but I should've seen it before. You could've told me. It wouldn't have changed anything."

She blushed, causing the blue in her cheeks to get darker and the pink the get redder. "It wasn't really supposed to be a secret," she promised. "But I was a little girl, and then I didn't see her again until I got here. I wasn't expecting it, and it took a little while for me to remember her. She's like the sister I should've always had. Like Neytiri."

Her eyes became sad, and I knew what she was thinking about, pulling her closer to me and lifting my eyes to look around the grove. I saw Eyreal and Thomas in the distance, and even though I didn't want to move, I leaned back to look at Ava. "Everything's gonna to be okay," I swore to her. "We didn't do anything wrong."

She lifted her hands to my arms, inhaling deeply and then nodding slowly. I took her hand in mine again, pulling her toward the crowd even though I had no desire to have the confrontation I knew was coming.

Eyreal and Thomas met us first as they both stood away from everyone else, and she spoke as soon as we were close enough.

"You were not meant to be away from the village through the night," she exclaimed softly. "What if hunters from another clan had found you? Her? You know she is not safe away from the village."

"We were safe," I assured her. "No one would have attacked us where we were, and we even had a guard, even if I didn't know he was there until this morning."

She looked at Ava, appearing to see something in her eyes as she stepped forward and lifted her hands to Ava's shoulders. _"Tsmuke,"_ she said softly. She looked at me, and I nodded automatically, silently answering her questioning eyes. Then she looked at Ava. "I am happy for you."

The breath Ava had been holding left her lips softly, and she moved forward, easing her arms around Eyreal as the elder did the same. Thomas moved to my side, lifting his eyes to mine and speaking as candidly as he could under the circumstances.

"Will you still come with Norm to help carry supplies?" he asked.

I laid my hand over his shoulder. "Of course I will," I assured him, leaning over a little to be level-eyed with him. "And I was even thinkin' we could stay a little while. Give you a chance to beat me a few times."

He appeared to like that idea, and he nodded silently, lifting his hand to mine and looking at Ava as she and Eyreal stepped away from each other. He didn't say anything to me or Ava, moving closer to her and taking her in his arms as a way of accepting her the way he probably had that first day. I watched him, feeling prouder of him than I ever had before — even when he'd started practicing with his bow and did better than anyone else his age.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tu'San and Mo'at approaching us, and even in the distance, I could see Rey'sik and Taw'biht talking quietly. The look on Taw'biht's face told me everything I needed to know, and I realized why everyone was gathered when Mo'at's appraising eyes settled on me as I stepped away from Ava and Thomas. I didn't say anything to her, but she apparently didn't need me to say anything, looking up at Tu'San and prompting him to speak.

"Is it true?" he asked softly. "You and Ava have mated before Eywa."

I tried not to look embarrassed as the rest of the crowd there appeared to give us their undivided attention, but it was hard to keep my face from heating up, and I had to confirm what he said. "Yes," I said, plainly. Then I lowered my voice so only he would hear me. "And you were wrong about the Dream Hunt. I told her it was her choice, and she shouldn't do it because of anyone but herself."

He didn't respond, glancing at Mo'at and then turning away from me. I wasn't sure what kind of signal he gave, but before Mo'at could speak to me directly, Taw'biht shouted from where he was standing with Rey'sik.

"First, you take Neytiri from Tsu'tey," he yelled, moving toward me despite his friend's attempts to keep him back. "Then you take respect from _olo'eyktan_. Then you claim lives of Na'vi because of fight with Sky people. I respect you because you are brave," he screamed, rage and indignation flickering in his eyes as he grasped onto his knife. "And now you throw respect back in my face!"

He lunged at me with his knife, and I barely missed getting gutted as I stumbled out of his aim. I went for my own knife, facing him as he continued to advance on me, and I tried to reason with him, since it was obvious he had cared for and loved Ava as much as I had. I'd seen it the night before, but I hadn't realized it was this serious.

"Listen to me," I pleaded, shouting as he moved closer. "I didn't do anything to you. This was Ava's choice! She told you that you're only her friend."

"She only say those things because of you," he roared, lunging again and nicking my arm before Ava arrived at where we'd both ended up in the middle of the grounds of the village. "And now you disrespect me!"

"Toby, stop it," Ava yelled, reaching his side and pulling on his arm as he still held his knife on me. The fact that she called him something other than his first name told me they'd been more than just friends, but I was so shocked by his attack that I couldn't process it fast enough.

"I challenge you!" Taw'biht exclaimed. "I will prove you unworthy of her!"

"No," Ava shouted, still trying to stop him. "Don't do this. I don't want you to do this."

"If he is not afraid, he will fight," Taw'biht shouted back.

"He's taller and stronger than you," Ava countered. "He could kill you! Please. It's done."

"No," I said, still holding my knife and glancing around. "He wants to fight me. We'll fight. I don't back down from guys who can't take 'no' for an answer."

Ava looked torn between keeping him alive and keeping me safe, and she hurried to me side. "Jake, please," she begged. "He's seventeen years old. He's barely grown, and you could hurt him. Please. Don't do this."

"I can't back down now, Ava," I told her. "And I won't hurt him. Much. I had to fight to get the People to accept you, and if I don't do this now, then it's like none of that mattered. I didn't force you to mate with me, and I didn't coax you into our bond. Let me fight for you. Please."

She looked at Taw'biht, pleading with her eyes for him to stop, but he still held his knife, and he growled softly, apparently trying to bait me. Eyreal moved up behind her, taking her arms and whispering softly.

"Come," she pleaded. "This is the only way it can be done."

She didn't give Ava a choice, pulling her away from me and then looking up at me with the same appraising eyes Mo'at always gave me. I didn't want to hurt Taw'biht, and I hoped it was obvious, but Ava was _my_ mate now. He had no right to claim her as anything but a friend, and he was pushing it at that.

By now, Norm, Lisa, Max and Alex had all emerged from their alcove, and even though I didn't say anything, I could tell by Norm's expression that he already knew what was going on. Apparently, it was written all over my face. He looked . . . disappointed in me.

I turned back to Taw'biht, my knife still in one hand and my other hand clenched into a fist. He snarled, lunging forward again and aiming for my gut again as I side-stepped him and elbowed his ribs. He grunted painfully, but he remained undeterred, changing his hold on his knife and swiping it at me backward. I blocked his aim, but I only got halfway out of his blow, getting another slice up the inside of my own ribs. The sensation of the blade ripping through my skin caused me to hiss loudly, and I grabbed the cut instinctively.

He tried to take me by surprise, twisting his knife around and going for the other side of my torso. I caught his arm, knocking his knife out of his hand and clenching my fist less than a second before it connected with his jaw. He grunted painfully, stumbling himself and backing away from me now that he knew I wasn't going to be ginger about this. He waited a good five seconds, balling his own hands into fists to take me head on, but I got another swipe at his face, hitting his nose and feeling the crack beneath the blow my knuckles made against his nose.

He grabbed his face, yelling out and moving away again with even more anger in his eyes. But this time, I could see surprise there. It was obvious he hadn't really expected me to fight him. But I wasn't going to have him thinking he could challenge me and not have to pay for trying to make me back down from the way he'd spoken to me. And I realized then that he'd been trying to insult me. That had been his first and last mistake.

"Enough!"

Mo'at commanding voice erupted through the village, and even though I didn't want to take my eyes off him, I glanced behind me as she came closer until she was in between the two of us.

"That is enough!" she ordered, lifting her accusing eyes at me and then glaring at Taw'biht as he now held his own ribs where I'd jabbed them. Blood was pouring down his face, but he was trying to look tough. "I will not allow this. It is done! There will be no fighting for it! You," she said to him. "You should be ashamed."

He bowed his head, and Rey'sik moved to his side. He didn't say anything to Mo'at, but he looked at me, bowing his head and then pulling Taw'biht from the crowd. Once they were gone, everyone else's attention turned directly on me as I stood there bleeding from two knife cuts. Eyreal and Ava stepped down to where I was standing, and Mo'at moved in closer.

"You allowed this to happen," she said, but she wasn't talking to me.

I lifted my eyes to her, discovering her gaze to be on Eyreal as she stood beside Ava silently.

"What?" I asked.

Mo'at looked at me. "I left this up to the two of you," she said, her voice and her eyes disappointed for the first time since I'd known her. "But I never thought something like this would happen."

"She didn't _allow_ anything to happen," I argued. "I talked to Ava about her Dream Hunt. But I told you I wasn't going to force her to do anything she didn't want to do. She made her choice. You said you would support her no matter what she decided. This had nothing to do with Eyreal."

I looked at Eyreal again, but she didn't say anything, her head bowed the way it should have been were she actually guilty of anything.

"I did say I would support her," Mo'at said to me. "But I also told you she had to find her own path, not have it laid before her by you. I advised that the two of you would determine if she was ready for _Uniltaron_, not take a mate. For her, those two things are not connected anymore. You have responsibilities," she reminded me.

"And I can still do them now," I argued. "I know what I'm supposed to do. This doesn't change that."

The expression on Mo'at's face didn't say whether she believed me or not, but she stepped closer to me, looking in my eyes and then speaking pointedly. "We must administer the antidote," she informed me. "And we must speak of your dream. Now is not the time for this. With time, we will accept this as it is. Come."

Even though I was confused by her complete turnaround in behavior, I didn't argue with her, allowing her to guide me from the crowd. Eyreal and Ava followed, and while Mo'at retrieved the antidote for the arachnoid venom, she situated me inside on of the smaller alcoves. Eyreal saw to the wounds on my arm and my ribs, and Ava watched anxiously even though I didn't really want her near me when I talked to Mo'at. Hearing that I hadn't really dreamed about her or our future would sound odd to her, even if it wasn't really my fault. It obviously hadn't been predicted that I would go off and mate with her when Mo'at had performed her ritual. I didn't think it meant anything bad. I didn't feel any different from how I'd felt the morning after mating with Neytiri, and it was clear Ava didn't feel like anything was wrong. But it still wouldn't sound good that not only had I not dreamed of her, but I'd also dreamed about her mother and Grace. That was freaking me out enough as it was.

"You should probably go sit with Lisa while we do this," I told Ava even as Norm stepped into the alcove. "You need to eat breakfast."

"So do you," she insisted.

I took her hand, leaning closer as Eyreal smoothed a salve over the cut on my ribs. It stung a little, and I hissed softly, lifting my eyes to Ava's. "I'll be fine," I said quietly. "And I don't know how long this is going to take. It's okay. I'll be in good hands, and when this is over, I'll get something myself. Go on."

I nudged her on, and she looked at Eyreal for a few seconds before standing slowly to leave the alcove. I watched her go, my eyes finding Norm's as he moved to my side and folded his arms over his chest. I shouldn't have needed to explain myself, but he was looking down at me like he'd expected more from me. And when Eyreal pressed the fiber cloth to the cut on my ribs, I hissed again, looking at her.

"You're bein' kind of rough there, don't you think?" I accused.

"You were being like a child," she snapped. "You are a grown man! You had no business fighting a child over your mate! Neytiri was right about you when she said you were stupid. It seems even growth has not allowed you to mature." She sighed softly, lifting another cloth to my arm and gently pressing. "I am not upset with you over this. I am only telling you the truth."

"Well, I'm not going to give him anymore encouragement," Norm interjected, and I looked at him. "Even if I can't say I'm surprised, I was hoping against hope that you would've allowed things to play out a little differently."

I exhaled as the salve being spread over my arm caused me to grimace when it stung. "I'm not gonna fight with you over this, Norm," I told him. "It's been done, and it can't be undone. I wouldn't want to undo it, even if it could be done. I did what everyone said. I talked to Ava about her Dream Hunt. It was her choice. And she chose me. I actually thought she had already chosen Taw'biht, but she said he was just her friend. I guess I should've expected him to fight it. But I wasn't expecting him to do this. How could I have?"

"She's 17, Jake! You've been a grown-up for a long time now. Does she really understand what she's done?"

"How could she not understand?" Eyreal asked him, wrapping the cloth to my arm and facing Norm as she knelt in front of me. "I explain everything to her. She knew what to expect."

He shook his head. "That's not what I mean," he hedged. "You can explain what it is to her all you want, but in the end, what it comes down to is that she wasn't raised here, and I saw the look in her eyes while you were fighting him," he said to me. "She might as well have been ripped down the middle as scared as she was for both of you. Didn't you hear her?"

Before I could speak, Mo'at returned carrying a small jar and a wooden spoon. Norm sighed heavily, backing away as the elder woman also knelt in front of me beside Eyreal. Without really saying anything to anyone, she nodded to Eyreal and they oriented themselves around me silently. The most pungent odor filled the alcove as Mo'at removed the lid to the jar which apparently held the antidote for the arachnoid venom, and Eyreal lifted her hand to the back of my head, prompting me to tilt my head back slowly.

"It is all right," she said softly. "The taste is not pleasant, but neither is the sickness that you will experience if this is not given in time."

She nodded, and I watched Mo'at scoop the spoon in the jar, stirring its contents slowly and releasing even more of the odor into the air. It smelled mostly of rotten eggs and mold, but there was a strange sweetness to it I couldn't identify. The last time I'd gone through something like this, I'd actually vomited most of the psychoactive agents back up without the need for an antidote. But that sensation had been immediate and forceful. It wasn't nearly as bad this time as I'd thought it would be, but I heeded Eyreal's warning, allowing Mo'at to pull on my chin as she scooped up a spoonful of the substance in the jar. She lifted it to my lips, allowing the somewhat viscous fluid to flow into my mouth, and I realized why Eyreal had made me tilt my head back.

Almost immediately, I felt like throwing up again, and I tried to pitch forward in an effort to expel the rancid-tasting concoction. But Eyreal held my head in place, grasping onto my hair until all the antidote was in my mouth and down my throat. Mo'at closed my mouth, forcing me to take it in and holding onto my face while I unwillingly allowed the feeling of being sick dissipate slowly. As the unsettling, vile feeling made itself apparent, I reached back for Eyreal's arm, moving her hand from my hair and coughing unconsciously even though I knew I wasn't going to get rid of the substance now spreading through the rest of my body. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling lightheaded and almost tipping over when I pressed my hand to the ground.

Norm hurried forward, leaning in front of me as Mo'at let go of me. "Jake," he said softly.

"I'm okay," I hacked, covering my mouth and then sitting up straight to see him looking at me with a worried look over his face. "It's okay," I promised. "God, that tasted disgusting! What the hell was it?"

"Herbs meant to counter effects of _Kali'weya_ mixed with teylu and other vegetables to help the body digest," Mo'at informed. "We did not need to administer antidote on your _Uniltaron_, and I could not risk you regurgitating. Though I see you needed further encouragement," she nodded to Eyreal.

Norm moved out of the way, and Mo'at lifted her hands to my shoulders, gazing into my eyes expectantly as she spoke.

"Now. We will discuss your dream. And perhaps at a later time, we will discover if it has affected your mating."

Even if I didn't like the sound of that, I glanced at Norm and then Eyreal, feeling embarrassed to have more of an audience than I'd expected even though I knew it wouldn't bother Mo'at at all. So without further arguing, I told her what I'd dreamed the night before.

Thinking about it as I told Mo'at what I'd dreamed, I realized it hadn't been either good or bad. It had been a message, and even if I wasn't sure what that message was just yet, something else was becoming distinctively obvious to me. Eywa truly was trying to tell me something important. It was obviously something She felt I was connected to, and even if it felt like I was frustrating Her by having it take me this long to figure it out, I still didn't feel like it was over. Which meant more dreams would come, and I was likely to get even more confused by them than I already was now.

"It seems we have underestimated your connection to the Great Mother," Mo'at said after I finished. "We believed She only commanded in times of great need. But this appears to be more tied to your past than we previously understood."

"You really saw Grace?" Norm asked, his mouth hung open in an obvious, disbelieving awe.

I nodded. "She _is_ with Eywa," I reminded him. "And I didn't really understand exactly what that meant until now. I didn't really know how much either. I always knew I could feel Amelia out there somewhere, but surely, she can't really mean it literally, can she?"

Norm's face kind of paled, and he stood up straight, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Of course not. That's impossible. I mean, Max and me looked at all the security footage. Amelia was shot in the courtyard."

I felt like he wasn't being honest with me, but I realized how long it had been, and I decided there were other important things to tend to. "It's getting late in the morning," I told him. "We should get everything together to get you to the base."

He bowed his head, glancing at Mo'at and then Eyreal before he turned to leave slowly. Once he was gone, I looked at them too.

"I'm not gonna try to avoid this, because I know it's not what was expected, but we can beat it into the ground later. If Thomas is going to go with Norm to the base, I need to go with him, and it should only be for a few days. So I was gonna ask the two of you hold things down while I was gone."

Mo'at gazed at me expectantly, but she didn't say anything, rising silently and leaving as Eyreal moved to cover the jar that had held the antidote. She glanced at me in her movement, but she stayed quiet. I'm not sure what possessed me to do so, but I stopped her and made her look at me.

"Are you really okay with this?" I asked softly. "Because you knew this was possible. Don't tell me it bothers you."

She tried to move away, grasping onto my arms to make me release her. "I told you I trusted you to do what was best," she insisted. "If she is happy, then I am happy for her."

"But you're not happy for me?" I pressed.

"Your happiness is of no concern to me," she informed me, still trying to get away. "You are not my mate. You knew what you were doing when you bonded with her."

"So did she," I shouted, to which she finally looked at me. "But you knew that already, didn't you? I know how you've been listening to her, Eyreal, even if I should've seen it with my own eyes before I bonded with her. And I know how much you care about her. But you're not her mate. I am. Her happiness is my concern. And you need to understand this. Please. I didn't do this to defy all the rules. I did it because I wanted to. And she did too."

"Then why does it matter if I am happy for you?" she demanded. "If she is so important to you. If you wish for me to 'hold things down while you are gone,' then why does it matter that I understand why you have done this?"

I let go of her, dropping my hands as she stared at me confused. "I don't know," I said honestly. "I thought we were friends, and I guess I wanted to make sure we were okay. I know you don't understand. But you're like a sister to Ava, and I want things to be okay between us."

She rose slowly, holding the jar in her hands and watching me as I followed. I was about to say something else, even if I wasn't sure what more I could say, when Lisa stepped into the alcove by herself.

"Jake, you need to eat before we leave," she announced, stuttering on her last word as she saw me standing close to Eyreal.

I turned to her, speaking quickly. "I'll be there in a minute," I told her, turning back to Eyreal only to discover her gone.

Lisa moved into the alcove slowly, craning her neck to look at me as I stood there clenching my fists. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

I lowered my eyes to hers, wondering why I cared what Eyreal thought or believed, but I didn't have an answer, shaking my head at Lisa. "No," I answered. "Let's just go."

I led the way out of the alcove then, and she followed me to where everyone else was getting breakfast around the firepit. I discovered I wasn't really hungry, but I ate something for good measure before I went to find Norm since I knew he was helping Max and Alex pack everything up to carry it to the Samson. Thomas was helping them, and he smiled when he saw me, immediately going back to helping tie meat and vegetables to a rack that a group of hunters would be carrying with them. Norm noticed me, but he didn't say anything, and I didn't either. I knew he wasn't happy with me, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. There wasn't anything I _wanted_ to do about it — whether he was happy with me or not.

We'd been able to gather enough food, water, medicine for the avatars and building supplies to last everyone on the base for the next several months just in case, and once all of it was ready to be transported, I picked a few hunters I could trust to carry it to the Samson which was about five kilometers from the village. I made sure the hunters knew to keep Norm, Lisa, Max and Alex safe on the way like they were our own, and I was grateful none of the hunters had a problem with that. I also made sure Thomas knew to mind Norm if anything happened, especially since I was gonna be flying there with Ava.

I saw the group off to the edge of the village, turning to get up to the _ikran_ nest in the topmost branches of Hometree and instantly faced with Rey'sik and Taw'biht. I wasn't really interested in another confrontation, since I'd had my fill already, but Rey'sik spoke before I could.

"Your opinion of me was not so good when we first met," he said slowly, calmly as he stood beside Taw'biht. "But Ava save my life. My way toward her improve. Your opinion of me change. I talk to Taw'biht about his way toward you and Ava. He say she call him friend. She never call him mate. But he is willful. Have hope she would change mind. I . . . tell him what I hear. He is . . . ashamed of his way. Wish to _tsap'alute si_."

I looked at Taw'biht, seeing his eyes downcast as he stood there silently. I wasn't sure what Rey'sik had said to him or exactly how they were friends now, but if he really wanted to apologize about his behavior, I wasn't gonna stand in his way. I stepped in front of him, and his cheeks darkened quickly as he folded his arms over his chest. "I'll accept an apology from him," I agreed, "if he'll give it to me himself. Because I'm not really the one he has to apologize to."

He lifted his eyes to mine, their topaz hue pleading as he stood in front of me. I folded my own arms over my chest, and he clenched his teeth, dropping his arms and balling his hands into fists. "I am sorry for fighting with you," he exhaled grudgingly. "I was — I did not — I am sorry. I am young. _Sa'nok_ said I will grow out of it. I have not grown fast enough for her."

He looked at Rey'sik, who nodded, and he looked at me. "I do not wish to . . . lose Ava as a friend. I know it is all she will be to me now. You will not stop her from hunting or flying with me, please?"

I scoffed, grinning slightly. "That's not up to me," I told him. "Ava chooses her own friends, so if she still wants you around, I won't tell her she can't do it. But like I said, I'm not the one you need to apologize to, am I?"

He bowed his head again. "No."

I looked at Rey'sik. "I should be back in a few days," I said, to which he nodded. "Maybe that'll really give him some time to cool off."

"Yes, _olo'eyktan_."

I left them there without another word, making my way up into the tree to where I was sure Ava was waiting. I hadn't had a chance to talk to her since all of this had started, and I hoped she hadn't been completely discouraged by the way everything had happened. I hoped she knew none of it was her fault, and I didn't want her to feel sorry for how any of it had gone down. I also thought about how I hadn't told Mo'at and Eyreal one of the other reasons why I wanted to go to the base with Thomas was so Ava and I would have a little time to ourselves before I knew I would have to get back to my responsibilities. I knew it wasn't the most ideal place for us to really bond, but without most of the clan watching us, I hoped it would be good enough.

Ava was waiting for me near the nest, silently feeding Hawnuyu as she already wore her goggles and her riding pants, and when I joined her, I noticed a little hesitation in her reaction to me. I turned her to face me, taking her hands in mine even though I didn't really say anything. She smiled slowly, leaning into me and then whispering.

"I bet you I can beat you there," she challenged.

She didn't give me time to respond, quickly stepping back to her _ikran_ and mounting him easily before she took off into the open air. I hurried, calling to Zawng and climbing onto him before a good twenty seconds could pass, but even as I flew out to follow her, I could already see her a hundred feet away. Damn, she was good.

I urged my own ride a little harder than I normally would have, pushing him to catch up with her as she flew further away from Hometree, and I could see her glancing back to keep an eye on me. I couldn't resist the challenge of beating her to the base, and it was obvious she knew that, especially when I could hear her laughing as soon as I got closer to her.

"You cheated!" I shouted, laughing myself as we came in side by side.

"I never said I wouldn't play dirty!" she shot back, grinning wider and turning her attention ahead of her to keep an eye on the sky.

Since we both knew it would take the moving caravan a little while to make it back to the Samson, we took as much of the scenic route as we could since it had actually been a little while since we'd been out by ourselves. Even though we'd both been hunting yesterday morning, we'd had company, and we'd both been admittedly focused on things other than the view. Now that we didn't have to worry about any immediate herds to follow or formation flying to practice, we found ourselves in need of a little downtime.

I spotted the caravan just as they were reaching the chopper, and while the hunters helped get the supplies into the open hull and strapped down, Thomas and Lisa took the time to wave at us from the ground. I'd already told Thomas the night before that if he was going to ride on the Samson he was going to mind the people around him and do what they said so he wouldn't get hurt. I was still worried about him being a little too enthusiastic about the whole thing, and I didn't want a repeat of what had happened with his mother. I did _not_ want to have to search the forest for my son's body because of something preventable.

Once all the supplies were loaded onto the chopper and the hunters ducked out of the way, I stayed close by to make sure nothing happened while Norm was taking off. I knew it was just me being paranoid, but it was safer for me to be paranoid than cavalier, and I didn't trust any neighboring Clans still untrusting of the people on the base to stay out of my own Clan's dealings with them. Even though ten years had passed, the scar the Sky People had left on the land was still fresh on a lot of the People's minds, and they didn't seem to forgive so easily. I'd resigned myself to only trading and dealing with the Clans who understood that the people on the base weren't all bad. In fact, a lot of the people on the base were people I could now consider family, just like Thomas and Mo'at, and like Neytiri.

Ava circled back as soon as the chopper was in the air, and she settled in on the other side so we could follow it into the area around the base. Whatever hopes I'd had of her at least being fair about getting there together faded the minute she pushed Hawnuyu further ahead of the chopper. The knowing smile she gave me told me she had no plans of letting me beat her to the courtyard on the Southern Lawn, and I only nodded in Norm's direction, urging Zawng to follow her easily. There was no way I was gonna let her beat me, even if she did have a head start.

The area around the base hadn't changed since we'd been there, and except for the small welcoming party that looked like it included Helen, the kids and Lori, the back Lawn was empty. The race Ava had precipitated ended the minute we both touched down, and even though she tried to contend that she had touched down first, the smile on her face was all I needed to know that everything was okay. It didn't matter what Norm said or what Eyreal said. I knew Ava was happy about the way things had turned out, and I had to admit I was adjusting to them pretty good.

Keira was the first to approach me and Ava, her wild, curly auburn hair flying behind her as she ran into my arms like it hadn't been more than ten months since she'd seen me. "Uncle Jake!" she cried, slamming into me with about as much force as Thomas was capable of and nearly knocking me over.

"Easy there, tiger," I soothed, holding her securely as Helen and her two other rugrats closed the distance between us. Lori followed slowly, eyeing Ava carefully and then looking at me.

The rotors of the Samson filled the air a minute later, and we all turned to watch as Norm landed the chopper about fifty meters away from where Ava and I had landed. The two _ikran_ bellowed their annoyance at the disruption, but neither of them flew away. As strange as it seemed, they were used to it by now, and it looked like they always would be.

I turned back to Helen, moving Keira onto my hip and extending my arm to her. "Good to see you again," I said softly, embracing her gently. After so long, it was easy to modify my grasp whenever I was handling the kids and people here. She moved both her arms around my neck, squeezing gently.

"Good to see you too," she whispered. She leaned back, nodding toward the chopper where Norm, Lisa, Max and Alex were already unloading the supplies. "We've been waiting for you to get here. I didn't think you'd come though. Don't you have council meetings or babies to help deliver? I can't believe Mo'at let you leave."

I must have blushed, because she touched my face. "You're turning dark blue on me, Jake," she told me. "Is everything okay?"

I bowed my head, laying my eyes on her two youngest kids. Joseph was three now and looked like he was ready to start running things around the base, and Fiona had just turned one if my counting was right. She'd been an infant that last I saw, but she looked beautiful now as she grasped onto Lori's leg while standing on both her feet unsteadily. They both looked so tiny compared to the Na'vi children their age back in the village. I always had to remind myself to be extra careful with them when I was here — even though it had been a little while.

"Jake," Helen said again.

I looked at her, trying to smile. "Everything's good. You and Max look about ready to start trying for another one. I'm sorry I haven't been around more. But maybe that'll change soon."

She sighed softly, stepping back and folding her arms over her chest as she turned to the chopper where Max was currently making his way to where we were. "Well, now that we know the shuttle's on its way, I guess I can't say I'm surprised. About you being here, not about the baby thing."

I chuckled, still holding Keira. "You don't want another one?"

"I want the children I have now to be safe, Jake," she said seriously, and I could understand her reasoning. "Now's not the time for me to be thinking about putting another child in danger. If it happens, it happens. You know, one could have said the same things to you five years ago."

I couldn't do anything to hide how uncomfortable that made me feel, but before I could say anything back, Max spoke up, now within shouting distance of where we were.

"Hey, you made it outside," he said, moving to Helen's side first and embracing her before he moved to pick Fiona up. "I was wondering if you would."

"Well, we heard Norm say Jake was coming," Helen informed him, "and I knew she wouldn't want to miss this." She nodded to Keira.

"Let's get inside," Max suggested. "I'll send David and Mitch out here to help with the unloading. I think Alex and I need a little fresh air away from these packs."

Helen glanced at me, and I set Keira down on the grass gently. She reluctantly joined her parents, and while they all turned to go back inside, I pulled Ava from Hawnuyu so we could help Norm and Lisa with the unpacking. There wasn't much to it, and I figured we'd have it unpacked and stored inside before lunch.

"You wanted to have more children," Ava said as we walked. "I can tell by the look on your face. Why is Thomas the only child you have?"

Normally, I wouldn't have felt compelled to answer a question like that. Quite a few people, including Mo'at had asked me and Neytiri why we hadn't ever had anymore children, and thinking about it now, it did seem strange for us to only have had one child. Most couples in the village had at least two, and it wasn't that Neytiri and I hadn't tried. We had.

I'm not sure what look I had on my face, but Ava spoke before I could, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "It's not my place to question something in your past. I was only curious. It was one of my failings as a child."

I sighed heavily, stopping and taking both her hands in mine. "It's okay," I whispered. "You have every right to know, and I want you to know. It's just that Neytiri and I _did_ try to have more children. And you would think we would have been one of the many couples in the village to be blessed with as many children as we wanted. But it just wasn't meant to be. I always tell everyone that Thomas was enough for us, and it's true for the most part. But I would've been crazy to not want a whole village of kids with her. I loved her with every fiber of who I was, and if I could've done it for her, I would have."

Ava bowed her head, obviously overwhelmed by my honesty, but the minute I saw guilt fill her eyes, I made her look at me, speaking as sternly but gently as I could. "That had nothing to do with you," I swore to her. "I know it wasn't that long ago, really, but it was another part of my life. I want to have a new life with you. And I don't want anything from my past to get in the way of that. I promise this is all gonna be okay. I wouldn't have done this with you if I thought for a single second that it could go bad. I had faith in you the minute I laid eyes on you eight months ago. I'll always have faith in you. 'Kay?"

It took her less than half a minute to understand what I was saying, and she smiled slowly, squeezing my hands in hers and then nodding silently.

Relief flooded my face, and I leaned my face into hers, holding her close to me. "And I don't ever want you to lose your curiosity," I pleaded. "It's one of the things I love about you most."

She blushed, opening her mouth to speak when she was interrupted by Thomas as he ran toward us from the chopper.

"_Ma sempul_, Norm said I could run through the obstacle course now if I want! Will you come with me?"

I couldn't help but laugh, leaning back from Ava and turning just in time for Thomas to barrel into me with a lot more force than I was prepared for. We both went crashing, and he had me pinned before I could even argue with him.

"While I would love to have you beat me, Thomas," I huffed, recovering slowly and rising to my feet as dignified as I possibly could even though I could see Ava covering her mouth with her hand, "I should probably help with the supplies. You go on, but be careful. I'll be over there before too long."

Even though he looked a little disappointed that I couldn't oblige him immediately, he ran off without another word, making his way to the opposite side of the compound where the majority of the exercise equipment was set up along with the obstacle course. I glanced at Ava, nodding toward the chopper and reaching for her hand to make our way over there together where Norm, Lisa and the two new guys were currently unpacking the supplies.

The food was easier to unpack, since it was already stored in wraps to keep it fresh, and the two new guys there, David and Mitch carried that pallet away from the Samson while Ava and I helped Norm and Lisa with the pallets holding the medicine for the avatars and water and building supplies for the base. Even though I'd just met Lisa for the first time the day before, so much had happened since then, but it didn't look like she was overwhelmed or even shocked by anything that had happened so far. Norm was quiet while we all worked, only looking at me or speaking to me when we were moving the pallets. I was the tallest one there, so it made sense for me to handle the bigger packages, and it was simple enough to see that Ava was the only one who could help me carry the pallets from the hull of the Samson. The being said, Norm was adamant about putting himself between me and Ava, even going so far as to suggest carrying the pallet above his head so the supplies wouldn't become dislodged from their holdings.

"You're being stupid," I told him, setting the pallet on the ground and turning to help get the last batch from the hull. "Don't you think this is too little too late?"

He actually glared at me, climbing up into the hull with Lisa and unhooking the straps from their grips. "Don't you think you could have, oh, I don't know, _waited _to do something so completely unnecessary?" he demanded.

"Guys," Lisa shouted. "Quit arguing about this. It's been done. And I don't hear Ava complaining. She _did_ break her arm yesterday."

Norn sighing heavily, climbing down from the hull and walking away without saying anything else. Lisa began to follow him, but I stopped her.

"No, I'll go," I told her, nudging her back gently. "I'm the one he's pissed at. I'll talk to him. Just help Ava with the rest of the supplies and carry what you can inside. We'll be in after a little while."

I left her there before she could argue, following Norm as he stalked across the lawn toward the long-house where Thomas was already making his way through the obstacle course. He waved when he saw me, and I tried to look like nothing was wrong, smiling and waving back. I had a feeling I was gonna have to talk to Norm on his level now, and with him being such a smart ass, there was no telling what he was gonna come up with for an argument. But I decided to at least let him get it off his chest. The sooner he did that, the sooner he would accept this since it _really_ couldn't be reversed now.

Norm planted himself on the front steps of the long-house, huffing loudly as soon as he saw me and folding his arms over his chest stubbornly. I didn't know exactly what I was gonna have to say to convince him that he didn't really have a good reason to be upset with me, but I knew I was gonna try just about everything I could think of, starting with the fact that Ava had met me halfway the whole time and if she hadn't it would've been obvious to him and everyone else as soon as we'd gotten back to the village.

"I know what you're going to say," he announced once I was close. I paused for a few seconds, and he exhaled sharply. "I mean, I know this wouldn't be happening if Ava hadn't wanted to do it. You're not the kind of guy to force this kind of thing. I just don't want anything to happen to her."

"Nothing's gonna happen to her," I assured him.

"So her arm getting broken because the hunting party she was in got ambushed, that was just a one-time thing?" he pressed.

I exhaled heavily, moving to sit on the steps with him so that we were eye-to-eye. "No," I admitted.

He leaned closer. "Excuse me?"

I bowed my head, glancing around to see Thomas making his way back to the front of the obstacle course and then seeing Ava and Lisa carrying a pallet of supplies to the basketball court where the other two guys were sorting through everything. I lifted my eyes to Norm's. "It wasn't the first time we've been ambushed," I confessed sheepishly. "The last time, she was still training, and I was with her. We were alone, but we were on our way back to the village when they found us."

Norm sat up straight. "Did she get hurt?" he pleaded, his eyes turning worried.

"No." I shook my head. "I kept her safe. And Tu'San and Eyreal showed up with hunters to even the odds before anything happened. She hasn't been out alone since then. I know it's not the best situation, but we're doing the best we can under the circumstances. Mo'at even agreed to the extra protection."

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't have happened if she was on the base," he griped despite the sour look I gave him. "_None_ of this would be happening if she was on the base. She'd be safe here, and you know it. And the fact that it's the same Clan ambushing you should be sending up the red flags enough as it is. And there isn't anything you can do to change my mind."

"Even the fact that you can't change it?" I demanded. "Because if it hadn't been a blessed mating, you would have known it as soon as you saw us this morning. I did what you said to do. I talked to her about her Dream Hunt. And I thought she'd already chosen someone else. But she chose me. How does that make me the bad guy here? Why aren't you lecturing her about this? And don't say it's because I'm the guy."

Norm pressed his lips together, clenching his teeth and exhaling through his nose. I was right, and he knew it, and it was pissing him off that he couldn't do a damn thing about it. So he was just gonna have to deal with it, even if he didn't want to.

"Look," I pleaded softly, "I made sure she understood what it meant for us to be together like this," I promised. "Not just the ins and outs of it, but what it really meant. And it _was_ her choice. And I made sure not to hurt her. But you're mad for all the wrong reasons. And you're mad at the wrong person. And if you're askin' me, you really don't have a good reason to be mad at all. Just accept it. I know Ava would want you to do that, for her sake more than mine."

He closed his eyes tight, visibly turning redder as he turned away and then turned his sights back on Ava. "And what are you going to do if she gets hurt again?" he asked. "And what are you going to do if you're the one who hurts her? Because you can't say it won't happen. You're two feet taller than her."

"She's not a weakling, Norm," I hissed. "She can actually take care of herself, you know. And she's gotten me out of plenty of scrapes for me to believe it. She survived out there for ten years, all by herself. What does being with me got to do with any of this?"

"Because you didn't know she was out there," he argued. "And she probably knew to avoid coming into contact with any of the Na'vi. But you can't avoid the other Clans. And exposing her to them is just going to put her into more danger. And then — then what are you going to do if she gets pregnant?" he pleaded, his ears turning a deep shade of pink as he clenched his teeth again.

I scoffed softly, blushing myself and thinking of the night before when I hadn't even been worried about anything like that happening. "I don't think we should start worrying about that just yet," I told him. "She'll let me know when her body's ready for that. Just like Neytiri did. Like any of others' mates would."

"Because they're Na'vi?" he asked incredulously, scoffing himself.

His tone actually sounded disgusted, and I felt wounded for a split second even as I spoke. "Of course."

"Yeah, well, Ava's not just Na'vi," he informed me. "She's Human too. And you don't even know how that part of her works. How do you know it won't just happen?"

At that, I had no argument, and when I didn't answer him, he spoke again.

"You don't know it won't just happen," he accused, and I had to look away to keep from glaring at him. "For all you know, she could be pregnant now! How could you not think about that?"

I inhaled a steadying breath, squeezing my hands into fists and speaking softly. "That's not really your problem anymore. You're not the one who found her. You're not her family. I am. And no matter what happens, I'll be the one taking care of her. Not you."

"Then why do you care what I think?" he pressed, the same way Eyreal had before I'd left the village. "If you're not at least going to hear me out, why does it matter why I care what happens to her? Because you've obviously decided to take matters into your own hands."

I looked at him, opening my mouth to speak when Lisa suddenly shouted from the basketball court.

"Jake! Something's wrong!"

I was on my feet before I was even aware of leaving the steps, running through the obstacle course and seeing Lisa as she knelt over the concrete with Ava doubled over in her arms. I wasn't sure what was wrong, but it didn't matter. As soon as I was close enough, Lisa spoke again.

"We were unwrapping the food when she started cramping," she told me, looking over my shoulder at Norm as he ran toward us with Thomas. "I think it might be something she ate. We might want to make sure nothing else happened yesterday when the hunting party was ambushed," she said in Norm's direction.

"We should get her out of the heat," he said, and I moved forward instantly, lifting Ava in my arms and following Norm to the airlock that led to the ambient room. Lisa followed with Thomas, and as soon as we were inside, Norm pulled the scanning equipment out of the corner.

"Lay her over here," he gestured to a nearby gurney, and I obliged easily, watching Ava's face contort painfully. I wasn't sure what was happening, but I knew she was hurting, and I was immediately thinking back to the day before when they'd been ambushed by another Clan.

I tried to remember everything Tu'San and Taw'biht had said, knowing only that the other Clan had to have been following them closely and might have actually tried to take Ava after she'd hurt herself. It would have been so simple then. And I'd been so worried about her injury and the looks I'd seen between her and Taw'biht that I hadn't even thought to ask Tu'San about more of the details of the ambush. Had any of the hunters from the other Clan gotten their hands on her? Was it possible they'd tried to poison her if they couldn't kill her out in the open?

"Ava, honey, I'm really going to need you to lay on your back," Norm pleaded, getting the scanner ready and easing the machine toward her as she continued to cradle her stomach. "Jake, let go of her for a minute."

"I'm not leaving her," I shouted.

"I didn't say leave," he shouted back. "Just let go of her for a minute. Just for a minute, okay?"

I looked at Ava, holding onto her tighter and silently pleading with her to let Norm help her. If there was something wrong with her, I wanted to know about it, and if Norm could find that out, it didn't matter if he was still angry with me. Ava was the only thing that mattered right now.

Very gently, I helped Ava lay on her back, still holding her hand and watching Norm take the wand unit to lay it over her stomach. She flinched, and he spoke softly.

"It's okay." He waited a minute, looking at me and then looking at the scanner. While we waited for him, Max and Helen appeared behind the glass.

"What happened?" Max asked, and Norm glanced at him.

"Ava started cramping," Lisa answered, moving around to be beside me so she could be near Ava. "We should probably test her to make sure there aren't any toxins in her blood. I'll get the equipment ready."

"I can't make anything out on the scanner," Norm reported. "Looks like we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way." He put the scanner away, wheeling it into the corner and then moving closer to Ava. "I need you to tell me where it hurts most," he requested, touching her gently.

She looked at me for a second, and then she looked at him, laying her hand over the left side of her lower abdomen.

He laid his hand over hers, pressing gently. She didn't double over immediately, but she grimaced softly, squeezing my hand. I watched him carefully, and he moved his hand across her abdomen, pressing into her muscles lightly and then reaching the right side of her body. He barely touched her, and she yelped, grabbing my arm with her other hand.

"Watch it," I yelled at him, and he jumped, glancing up at me as Lisa got to his side with a tray of sterile syringes and viles so they could take samples of Ava's blood.

"Calm down, Jake," he pleaded. "Ava has to stay still, and I don't want to have to make you leave. I think I know what's wrong with her, but we need to take some blood to make sure it's nothing viral."

I exhaled softly. "Sorry. I guess I just forgot what this feels like."

"Well, you'll adjust," he quipped, wrapping the tourniquet around Ava's arm and laying the syringe in the bend of her arm. "I guess we all will."

I lifted my eyes to his, and after a few seconds, he nodded, taking a vile of Ava's blood and then stepping up into the lab so he could get it tested. Lisa actually bumped her elbow against mine, and I looked at her, seeing a small grin on her face. I grinned too, looking at Ava and focusing my attention on her as she turned to her side to face me again.

"It's gonna be okay," I whispered to her. "I'm right here.'

A few minutes passed, and Norm's voice filtered into the room. "Lisa, did Ava eat or drink anything for breakfast this morning?" he asked, his scientist-like voice now firmly locked in place as he searched for what could be wrong with Ava.

I looked at Lisa, and she seemed to think about it maybe a minute before she answered.

"No, she didn't," she told him, and I looked at Ava. "As a matter of fact, I don't think she ate much last night either."

"Does she have a fever?" he continued.

Lisa laid her hand over Ava's forehead, rubbing her temple and then her cheek. "She's burning up," she reported to Norm, gently rubbing Ava's bare arm as she laid perfectly still.

"Her white blood cell count is elevated," he relayed over the intercom, and the creases on Lisa's forehead deepened slowly.

"What's wrong?" I asked, still holding Ava's hand and now stroking the back of her neck to keep her still.

Lisa looked at me, hesitating for a few seconds before she spoke softly. "Did you ever have your appendix out?" she asked me.

"When I was seventeen," I said, the list of Ava's symptoms finally making sense to me, and I looked at Norm as he still stood on the other side of the glass with Max and Helen. "What do we do?" I asked him. "Does she need surgery?"

Norm looked at Max, and the older man nodded. Together, they moved to the airlock nearest to the ambient room. Only a few minutes later, they both emerged with Max wearing an exopack.

"We can't do it in here," Norm said. "We'll have to put her under anesthetic, but it's a routine procedure. She'll barely even have a scar. And she'll only need a day or two to recover."

"But I can't stay with her," I concluded, since it was obvious they were going to need sterile equipment so Ava wouldn't get an infection.

"Not unless you want to suffocate and die," Max said seriously.

I looked at Ava, seeing tears in her eyes as she grasped onto my hand and arm with all ten of her fingers and even centimeter of her palms. Then I looked at Norm and Max. "Then do it," I told them.

* * *

It only took Norm and Max half an hour to get Ava ready, and I waited in the ambient room with Lisa while they wheeled Ava into one of the surgical rooms nearby. Norm set up one of the monitors in the ambient room so I could watch, and for about two hours, I sat and watched them safely remove Ava's appendix and then close her tiny incision with stitches Norm said would dissolve over the next twenty-four hours. When they brought her back, she was wearing a surgical gown and was resting under a blanket. Max took her vitals while I settled next to her, and while he and Norm talked, I whispered to Ava even though I knew she was still under anesthetic.

I knew she would need a few hours to wake up, and that I wouldn't be able to move her until then, but I told her everything was gonna to be okay. I actually felt a little stupid thinking Tu'San or Taw'biht would've let anything happen to her while they'd been out the morning before, but my imagination was starting to get away from me. I didn't have any control over thinking something was gonna happen to her, and I couldn't stop myself from thinking it was gonna to be my fault.

"She'll be recovering for another two or three hours," Norm said moving to my side slowly as I watched Ava sleep. "Everything went perfect. You won't even be able to see the incision."

I glanced over Ava's body, knowing he was wrong since I knew exactly where it was and wouldn't be forgetting any time soon. "I know," I said to him instead. "Thanks."

He was quiet a minute before speaking softly. "I didn't mean to blow up at you," he apologized. "I know you're doing your best, and it's not my place to question that anymore. You know I trust you, don't you Jake?"

I grinned. "Yeah. I know. But that doesn't mean you didn't have a right to blow up at me. I do kinda have a thick head, and at least you care enough to make sure I do my best." I looked at him as he stood next to me. "I know nobody was expecting this. I wasn't expecting it. But that doesn't mean I didn't want it. Because I did. More than I was willing to admit. And Ava wanted it too. So part of the, uh, blame should be put on her too."

Norm looked me in the eyes, his attitude completely different now from how he'd been when we'd arrived. "Neither of you did anything wrong. It just surprised me is all. I thought for sure we'd have to wait at least another year for this. But it's okay. I get it, Jake. I really do. I guess I should've seen by now how much you love Ava."

I laughed, looking at Ava again and then looking at Lisa. "And here I was thinking nothing surprised you," I joked.

He laughed nervously. "I never said _nothing_ surprised me," he argued.

"Heart rate and blood pressure look good," Max reported from the other side of the room. "In a few hours, we can move her outside so she can rest in the long-house."

I glanced in his direction, nodding solemnly. "Okay," I agreed.

* * *

A few hours later, when Ava woke up from her anesthetic and Max said it was okay for her to be moved, I carried her out of the ambient room where they'd brought her after surgery. By then, Helen had carried Keira, Joseph and Fiona back outside where Thomas and Lisa were keeping them entertained. I noticed the little ones were all wearing sized exopacks, but it didn't seem to bother them that Lisa wasn't wearing one. They played with her just the same.

The moment I stepped outside with Ava, Thomas hurried to my side, looking over Ava and then speaking as we walked to the long-house slowly.

"She is all right now?" he asked, his eyes scanning over her torso where she'd been hurting before I'd taken her inside.

"She's gonna to be just fine," I promised him. "But she needs her rest. And she probably needs something to eat if you want to find her something."

His ears perked up quickly. "There are many kinds of fruit in the garden," he said happily. "I will make _nikt'chey_ like _ma sa'nok_ and Grandmother always show me."

I glanced at him sidelong, realizing he'd called Mo'at his grandmother for the first time since Neytiri's death. I thought maybe he'd begun to accept Eyreal as the new _tsahik_, and now his grandmother was just that all over again. I could see he liked calling her that. He ran off quickly to where the water and building supplies were still setting on the basketball court, looking through everything we'd brought for what he wanted. In the few hours I'd been inside, the medicine and food had all been put away for safety in the lab or the mess hall, and I wondered what was going to get done with the building supplies we'd brought. The water bladders usually kept their contents cool, so I knew he'd be back with something good for Ava to eat.

I found a cot for Ava to lay on, sitting at her side and holding her hand as she settled slowly. She was still groggy from the anesthetic, but she smiled at me and squeezed my hand. I laid my fingers over her forehead gently, noticing her color coming back even though she was sweating. "Are you okay?" I asked softly. "Norm said you'd be disoriented for a little while."

"I'm okay with you here," she whispered.

I leaned closer until my face was above hers, touching the tip of her nose with mine and gently rubbing her skin with mine. "I'm always gonna be here," I swore. "No matter what happens. I'm always gonna be with you, Ava. I promise."

She lifted her other hand to my face, caressing my cheek lightly and then easing her fingers over my neck to my shoulder. She found the nerve endings of my queue, and I tried to stay in control of the situation even as I shook with chills, taking her hands in both mine and leaning back to look at her.

"You gotta be a little more fair than that," I pleaded. "You're tired, and you're gonna be weak for at least another day. I'm not goin' anywhere, and neither are you. I told Mo'at I was gonna be here for a little while, since I figured it'd be the only time we got to ourselves. I do still have responsibilities, and I'll have a lot to do when we get back. So you just rest, okay?"

I squeezed her hands, leaning closer to kiss her and then laying my forehead over hers. "Thomas is gonna find you something to eat and drink, and I'm gonna let you sleep. All right?"

She inhaled deeply, grasping onto my hands and kissing me again. "Will you sleep here with me?" she whispered.

Thomas came back just then, hurrying to where I'd laid Ava with a wide smile on his face as he carried an assorted variety of fruit and vegetable wraps from the garden along with a bladder of water. "Lisa knows how to make _nikt'chey_," he exclaimed. "She helped me make everything. She said these would be best after sur-jury."

Even though Thomas had been speaking English since he'd started talking, that last word was a little difficult for him to get out. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I helped Ava sit up so she could eat.

"Stay here with Ava, all right, Thomas?" I requested. "I'll be right outside."

He nodded happily, taking my place as I rose and made my way outside where everyone else was making use of the midday sun. Max had made his way outside, and he was sitting on a picnic blanket with Helen while they watched Lisa and Norm played with the kids. I tried to remember how many other children were on the base, and I silently wondered where they were, but I knew the base had a greenhouse and a solarium, so they were probably all there for the time being. I think Max was really the only one who actually liked to be outside like this.

Keira saw me before anyone else, running from her game with her siblings and making her way to me the way she had earlier. "Uncle Jake!" she exclaimed exuberantly.

I caught her the same way I had before, holding her against my chest since my hunting gear was all in the long-house and moving closer to the main group slowly. "Are you guys playing chase or somethin'?" I asked softly. "It looks like Norm was winning."

"He's so tall!" she cried, smiling as she held onto my neck with both her arms. "I mean, he's not as tall as you, but he's a lot taller than me! I can never get away from him. He's like Lightning McQueen!"

I patted her back gently, shaking my head as I laughed. "I take it you've been watching old movies again," I concluded. "Are we back to Disney now?"

"And Transformers and Harry Potter!" she cried.

I remembered Max breaking down and downloading movie files from the satellite when Keira had been three, and she'd been going through phases ever since. I was actually wondering when she was going to go through a phase I could identify with — like the Godfather or Two-Lane Blacktop. I was a guy, for Ewya's sake.

"Max," I said, finally reaching the small group and kneeling to the ground with Keira still in my arms. "When are we going to start watching movies I can remember?" I asked him, pleaded actually. "Disney? Honestly?"

He smiled and laughed, clutching Joseph to his chest as his son barreled into him while trying to get away from Norm. "She's five, Jake," he reminded me. "Maybe you should look through the database for a movie yourself. I'm sure we could set something up in the long-house for you. What's your favorite movie?"

I thought silently, honestly unable to remember the last time I'd watched a movie. I knew they did things like that on the base for the kids, but I was usually only there to check on things in the lab and the Ops Center. But as I sat there, watching Norm and Lisa join us, I could actually remember a movie I'd seen that had been a classic in my youth, since it was from another century. And apparently, Norm was thinking up the same thing, because he spoke at the same time I did.

"_Weird Science_," we both said, and I looked at him to see him smiling.

Max laughed. "Are you serious?" he chuckled.

"What's wrong with that movie?" Norm asked, allowing Fiona to crawl into his lap.

"It was ridiculous," he exclaimed, still laughing. "And impossible. Honestly, a couple of guys building a woman and making her come to life like Frankenstein? It's not even sound science!"

Norm laughed, and I did too. I hadn't really laughed since the day before, and it felt good. For the first time in several weeks, I felt like everything was going to turn out okay. And I figured I'd worry about my dreams whenever they came to me — if they came to me ever again.

"It's ironic we're talking about this," Helen said, "since we were planning a movie night for the younger kids tonight. I think Joseph and Marie wanted to watch _Finding Nemo_."

"Nemo!" Joseph cried, giggling as Norm tickled him relentlessly.

"What movie is that?" I asked obliviously.

"It's the one with the fish," Keira reminded me.

I nodded. "Ah. So where's the party?" I asked Helen.

"It's out here," she pointed around the courtyard. "Max has the projector ready, and we're going to pop some popcorn for the little kids. But I think Josh and Elizabeth are going to help us keep the kids corralled for the evening."

"Can Thomas come?" Keira pleaded, and I smiled at her.

"I'm sure he would love to sit out here and watch a movie with you," I promised her. "But let's let him finish with Ava, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded.

* * *

Norm and Lisa followed me to the long-house to check on Ava and Thomas while Max and Helen wrangled their kids to get them inside, and when I told Thomas about the movie, he literally jumped with more excitement than I'd seen him show in over a year. Even though Neytiri and I had wanted him to know English and most of the Human customs of the people on the base, we'd both decided not to expose him to too much Human culture, but every now and then, we hadn't seen the harm. And what could be more harmless than an animated movie about anthropomorphic fish?

After Thomas calmed down from his excitement, he stepped away from Ava's side to go back outside, and he promised her he would be back before the movie to see if she was hungry again. I was glad he'd taken to her so quickly after the mess that had happened that morning, and I hoped that no matter what happened, he would always feel the way he felt now, especially after we got back to Hometree. While Thomas left the long-house and made his way back to other end of the courtyard, Norm sat on the bed at Ava's side and took a reading on her vitals with his scanner.

"Temp's a little high, but we're giving her antibiotics for her fever," he reported, pushing a small button before he continued. "Heart rate's coming back down to normal, and her blood pressure's leveling out." He put the scanner away and reached for Ava's forehead. "Are you dizzy?" he asked her softly. "Do you need something to take the edge off? I know you have to be hurting."

"I can't hold my head up for very long," she stated matter of factly, and I knelt at her other side to take her hand in mine. "But I don't feel sick. The food helped."

"Are you thirsty?" I asked, reaching for the water and rising to lower the lip to her mouth. She nodded, and I gave her a little, but she still coughed. Norm gently pushed the water away.

"Don't give her too much," he warned. "We don't want to jostle her too much. She should sleep, and she'll probably feel better in the morning." He caressed her cheek, smiling as she smiled. "I'll check on you later," he promised. He looked at me, kind of nodding and motioning for me to follow him outside.

I nodded back, looking at Ava and whispering. "Get some sleep," I pleaded, leaning closer and kissing her forehead. "I'll be right back."

I stood up then, letting go of her hand and following Norm out of the long-house to find him a few paces from the front steps. As soon as he saw me, he spoke.

"I wanted to apologize about arguing with you this morning about Ava," he began, and when I tried to stop him, he held up his hand. "About her getting pregnant," he went on as he blushed slightly.

"Don't worry about it," I insisted.

"No, I need to say this," he pleaded. "I wanted you to know. While she was in surgery, I did some scans, and I don't think it's possible for her to get pregnant." He paused when he looked at me, probably because I could feel my entire face heat up, either from embarrassment or anger I wasn't sure. Then he went on. "I mean, it's possible. It's always possible. But because she's a hybrid, she has an extra pair of chromosomes that will make reproduction difficult for her. I just don't want you to worry about her, especially if you aren't able to have any children with her."

I tried to understand what he was telling me, since he was stumbling between scientific jargon and baby talk. I honestly hadn't thought of anything like this happening, but I wasn't worried about having children with Ava just yet. She was only seventeen, and we had just mated. We were still getting used to each other, and I wanted to focus on her. Before I could say anything, Norm continued his speech.

"Probably if there were more Na'vi genes in her, it'd be easier, but right now, I just want you to know in case you have any questions," he concluded.

I let almost everything he told me go over my head, nodding in acknowledgment. "Okay. If I have any questions, you'll be the first guy I go to."

He kind of smiled. "Good. I'll come check on her before we eat, and then we'll see if she's up for the movie."

"I think she'd like that," I agreed.

He laughed softly, stepping back and then turning to get back inside. I watched him walk back inside, turning back to the long-house and seeing Lisa there with a sympathetic expression on her face. I didn't say anything to her, moving back inside where Ava was now sleeping. I didn't have to guess that she'd probably heard everything Norm had said, but I held on to one thing Norm had said.

It was possible.

* * *

**Whew! Another LONG chapter put to bed, and now onto the next one! I hope we are enjoyed this little chapter, and I hope you're all looking forward to the new ones coming up. I wanted to thank everyone who's reviewed and faved my story, and also everyone who's put it on their alerts. I really appreciate it!**

**And now onto the Defintions:**

**_pa'li - _Big horses the size of elephants**

**_olo'eyktan - _This is what we like to call Jake on his good days**

**_Ava'eylan -_ This is how Rey'sik addresses Ava, since she is his friend (It should literally mean Ava'friend)**

**_tsmuke - _sister**

**_Uniltaron - _Dream Hunt**

**_Kali'weya - _The arachnoid. It's usually given during the Dream Hunt to induce a hallucination-like state**

**_tsap'alute si - _apologise (apologize)**

**_Sa'nok - _Mother**

**_ikran - _Big flying birds the size of prehistoric pterodactyls **

**_Ma sempul - _Father**

**_nikt'chey - _Food wraps made with a variety of ingredients including but not limited to fruit, vegetables and meat**

**_tsahik - _Interpreter for Eywa (In this case, Eyreal)**

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**So that's all for this time, folks. Stay good!**

**Until next time, Keep Calm and Carry on!  
**


	26. Union

**Okay, I know it's been a little while. But I have a good reason! I wanted this chapter to be perfect, and I didn't want to post it until it was exquisite - at least to me. There's a lot going on in this chapter, so I hope no one gets lost. **

**Things also get a little steamy in this chapter, but nothing too graphic, since that's not really my style. It shouldn't make anyone too uncomfortable, but don't say I didn't warn you. To all of you who tend to have better visualization skills that others, it should be pretty clear what's happening. I know it is for me.  
**

**On with the reading!  
**

* * *

_**Union**_

Ava, Thomas and I were on the base for probably five days, almost as long as we'd been there when I'd first found Ava. But this time was different and strangely, much more relaxing, despite Ava having had surgery upon arriving this time. For five days, while Ava recuperated, I took it upon myself to get reacquainted with everyone on the base. The first night, even though there had been a little bit of time for her recover, Ava had been too tired to watch the movie, but I stayed with her while everyone there sat in the courtyard and watched _Finding Nemo_. She'd fallen asleep before the main title came on.

The first night, with her still healing from the surgery, I'd tried to be a little considerate of her even though she wouldn't let me get far. With her still wearing the surgical gown and still needing her rest, I'd found a pair of running pants to make her a little more comfortable. It was weird wearing pants again after ten years of wearing a loincloth, but I found it kind of comforting that it did make Ava feel better that I willing to make that kind of compromise. And then she promptly tried to remove them. It wasn't easy to deter her, but I kept reminding myself that she needed time to heal.

The kids on the base, all nine of them, had no trouble letting me know how much they liked having me back on the base after I'd been gone so long. The oldest, Joshua, who was the same age as Thomas, and his little brother Connor talked me into playing football on the South Lawn every day I was there with Ava and Thomas, even though they were both so small that I couldn't tackle them. They both tried to tackle me, and after we showed Thomas how to play, he tried to help me even the odds. Of course, we still couldn't tackle Josh or Connor, especially with their parents watching less than fifteen meters away with everyone else.

"You're cheating!" Connor yelled at me as I carried him and the ball toward the end of the "field" I'd designated for me and Thomas.

"No, I'm not," I laughed, crossing the touchdown line and then kneeling to the ground with him in my hands. "If I can't tackle you, I just have to take you with me."

"But I'm supposed to go the other way!" he giggled.

"Well, you still have the ball," I informed him. I pointed to the other end of the field. "Run!"

He wrestled out of my hands, making a break for the opposite end of the field as the long dark blond locks of his hair billowed around his exopack mask. Josh and Thomas saw him make a pass at them, and they immediately followed him, trying to stop him from getting to his end of the field. For about a minute, it looked like he was going to make it — at least until Thomas caught him and wrestled the ball out of his hands. Thomas was nearly twice as big as Connor, and Connor was only six, so when I saw them go down, I couldn't hide the panic on my face as I ran from my end of the field to where they'd landed.

"Thomas," I chastised, hurrying to them and getting to Connor before his exopack could get dislodged from his face. I pulled him into my arms, making sure he was okay. "Connor, are you good?"

He was breathless from running, and he had a scrape over his elbow from being tackled by a six-foot-tall blue tight-end, but he nodded, grasping onto my shoulders. I stood up, glancing at Thomas as he followed me with his head hung low and then pulling him to my side.

"Hey," I said to him, moving my free arm around his shoulders. "It's okay. You just need to be careful. Remember, you're twice as big as every one of these kids. Why don't you go check on Ava? She's probably going to want to get out of the long-house after sleeping all morning."

He gave me a small smile, running off to the long-house as I carried Connor back to where his parents were waiting with Max and Norm. His parents, Mitch and JoAnna, looked a little paler than they had a few minutes earlier, but I quickly assured them their son was okay.

"He's all right," I promised. "Just a little jostle. We probably need to get this scrape looked at," I gestured to it, setting Connor on his feet and then rising as Josh made it to where we were standing.

"I'm hungry," he announced. "Can we get lunch now?"

I looked around the courtyard, seeing Thomas and Lisa coming out of the long-house with Ava between them, and I nodded toward them. "You all go on and eat. We'll sit out here. You two get ready for a rematch," I warned Josh and Connor. "We're gonna change things up a little to see how we can make everything even."

Josh gave me a little grin and a nod, and Connor waved as his father carried him back toward the airlock to go back inside. I smiled, making my way across the courtyard to the long-house where Lisa and Thomas were helping Ava sit over the front steps. I noticed she was wearing a long white gown that barely went to her knees, but she looked comfortable, and when she saw me, she smiled despite being a little winded.

"How did they coax you out of the cot?" I asked, kneeling onto the steps in front of her and leaning closer to kiss her lightly over her cheek.

She wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "Lisa said if I tried to get out of bed, she would make my favorite food."

"If I'd known that was all it was gonna take, I would have made it for you earlier," I promised.

She laughed softly. "I doubt you would know how to make it," she informed me, and I leaned back lifting my eyes to hers.

"Exactly what are we talking about here?" I asked, looking at Lisa as she grinned knowingly.

"Well, it's not every day that I have to fashion a native meat so that it resembles chicken," Lisa admitted, "but I do have a few hidden talents."

She nodded back toward the airlock, and I looked back to see Norm coming closer with a platter covered in what appeared to be aluminum. He smiled when he saw the look on my face, laughing as he carried the platter to where we are all sitting. As he got closer, I realized how big the platter was, and I hurried forward to help him carry it since it looked like it was over-flowing with food.

"Lunch," he pronounced, setting the platter over the deck and removing the aluminum to reveal five plates of food — two of them sized for me and Thomas. On each plate, there was what appeared to be a chicken breast along with corn on the cob, potato salad, mixed nuts and cut-up fruit. At least on three of the trays, that's what it looked like. The two larger plates had more native-looking food, and when Norm pulled a bladder of water from around his shoulder, Lisa produced five metal cups from the inside of the long-house.

"When did you have time to cook this?" I asked them, taking my plate and then handing Thomas' to him. "You've both been outside all morning."

She looked at him, and he bowed his head. "Apparently, I'm very good at multi-tasking," he admitted. "I was cooking it this morning while I was running the diagnostic reports on the cryopods in the new part of the lab. I found a heating rack in the mess hall, and _voila_. Home-cooked sturmbeest meat. Or as close as I could get it. I figured you and Thomas would be a little more hard-wired to eat native food. And as long as Ava drinks as much water as she eats, she should be just fine. I checked her incision this morning, and the readings all looked very good. She'll be running around the courtyard in no time."

"I wonder what is happening at home," Thomas commented, nibbling on the vegetables on his plate. "Grandmother must miss us."

"I'm sure she's handling everything as best as she can," I promised him. "I probably could've left a comm unit there, but I don't know if anyone there would know how to use it. I'm gonna have to make that my first order of business when we get back — especially with the shuttle on its way."

"I thought I told you not to worry about that right now," Norm piped in. "We've got time, Jake. Honestly. We're keeping the shuttle's trajectory in our sights, and believe me when I tell you, we've got a good three years before it even gets here. This one even seems to be smaller than your typical transatmospheric vehicle. Maybe they're not sending as many people."

I listened to him silently, knowing I couldn't even entertain the possibility of allowing the shuttle to land anywhere but here — if I allowed it to land at all. I wasn't ready to let anymore humans on the surface just yet, even though the ones on the base had turned out to be good choices to stay behind. Most of them considered this place their home now, and I knew the people coming here wouldn't feel that way. I also knew the people coming on this shuttle would be fully aware of the situation here. It was possible they'd even been lied to about it, and I couldn't stop thinking of the scenarios and plots the Company would try to spin to gain the upper hand here. And now that Norm was mentioning it, I couldn't help but wonder one thing. Why was it taking them so long to come back?

"What's taking them so long?" I blurted out over my food, stopping just as the last word left my mouth and lifting my eyes to Norm's to see him doing the same thing. "Sorry," I said softly.

After the minute it apparently took him to recover from my outburst, he spoke a little more formally. "Well, speaking on a purely hypothetical level, one could discern that as soon as the shuttle that left here ten years ago docked with the ISV in orbit around Pandora, they probably sent out distress signals and surface reports. This place was probably off limits to other crews until a new plan could be formulated with the least risk of loss. I mean, think about it, Jake. Do you really think they _wouldn't_ tell the whole fleet of ships they had out there _not_ to come here for fear of the same thing happening again? If I were one of them, and I'm not, but if I were, I wouldn't want another mishap like that. To them, it was probably the worse interstellar debacle they've ever had thrown in their faces. They would have to risk losing an entire line of people just because they didn't want to admit they screwed up."

"Surely, they wouldn't have stopped wanting to strip-mine this place," I argued. "That mineral they dug out of the ground practically ran this place, and they shipped out with it on more than a monthly basis."

"But in the face of all this," he gestured to the compound and then me, "they probably thought it would be less expensive and less of a waste not to ylose any of the ships they had on the way here when you expelled everyone else off this moon. They probably ordered them to turn around, or at the very least, stop with enough distance so we couldn't see them when we started looking. This shuttle," he pointed to the sky, "is the only shuttle we've seen on the sensors. Which means it's the only one up there. I think we should at least operate under the presumption they've scaled back their procedures. That could work to our advantage."

I finished eating the meat on my plate. "I still think I should show a few of the hunters in the village to use a comm unit. Especially the ones watching our borders. Until the shuttle gets here, I should also probably start making regular trips here. So start compiling your data onto one of those pads so I can look at them out here. I want to know everything you can tell me about that shuttle, not just when it's gonna get here. Okay?"

He glanced at Lisa, lifting his eyes to mine and nodding silently.

* * *

In addition to Connor and Josh, I was able to spend time every day I was at the base with the other children. I couldn't exactly go inside to see them, but when their parents found out I was there, they all came outside a little every day. They all had to wear exopacks, but I could tell they all enjoyed it, especially when I agreed to play hide-and-seek with them. The oldest, Elizabeth, who was nine, and her sister Cecilia who was seven, were two of the most oddly matched siblings with a red-haired Irish father who liked for people to call him Mac and a dark-haired Greek mother proudly named Penelope. Elizabeth and Cecilia were two of the most beautiful girls on the base, but it was nearly impossible to believe they were related unless you saw them with their parents. They were also two of the most nefarious hide-and-seekers of the entire lot of kids. I was impossible to hide at the best of times, but these two girls had the monopoly on hiding places with parents who had access to just about every part of the base.

The last two little cahoots who almost always participated in our hiding-and-seeking were the last two brown-haired kids on the base. Douglas, who had just turned eight and his little sister Marie who was four, were two of the shiniest, smartest, brown-haired, brilliantly green-hazel-eyed kids I'd ever seen. They weren't as good at hiding as Elizabeth and Cecilia, but they were both tiny, able to climb and slide and squeeze into the oddest places and even further able to get themselves out of said places with little or no help. It honestly amazed me.

Because he had a mind a lot like theirs, Thomas was able to find them most of the time, more than somewhat happily as he was able to climb after them and even squeeze into some of the places they used to get away from me. And I was always 'it.' There was no way I could hide from any of them, even with the obstacle course sized for me.

"I beat you!" Elizabeth cried as she balanced precariously at the top of one of the climbing towers. She laughed at me as I climbed to get her, her wavy brunette hair blowing in the light breeze.

"I'd really like you to stop climbing this thing," I shouted, hurrying up the ladder as quickly as I could. "There are lots of other places for you to hide, you know."

"But I like this one," she giggled, crossing her ankles under her and then dangling from the ring which was about 100 feet off the ground.

"Don't do that, Liz," I pleaded. "I'll be there in less than ten seconds."

She laughed again, reaching for me as soon as I was close enough. "What are you so worried about?" she insisted. "I climb up here all the time. Da always lets me come out here."

I was able to take her arm in my hand, but she was too far away for me to pull her to me. "I know that's not true," I told her. "Because if he did, he'd never let you climb up here. Now come on. It's time for you to get down. You're father would kill me if I let anything happen to you."

"First say I beat you," she pressed. "Because you know it's true. I always beat you."

I grinned at her, still holding her arm and watching her face turn red behind her exopack. I knew blood was rushing to her face and she was going to get light-headed soon. I could probably hold her if she moved closer to me, but I really didn't want to run the risk of her falling and me having to catch her one-handed. So far, I knew none of the kids had been seriously hurt on the base, and I didn't want it to start now, especially while I was here and getting them all excited about me being here.

"You beat me," I conceded. "Now come on. I _really_ don't like it when you do this. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you out here."

She smiled knowingly, and I felt my heart leap into my throat the minute she let go of the ring to fall into open air. I squeezed her arm, holding onto her as tight as I could even as I grasped onto the ladder with my other hand. It seemed to take more time than was possible for her to fall the distance between us, and even though I had a tight grip on her, I still slipped, losing my hold on the ladder for a second before I was able to grab onto it again. For a little girl, she was just about as solid as a tree trunk when she slammed into me and barely missed kicking me in the crotch. And while I was grateful that she didn't, I had to work to get my feet hooked into the rungs on the ladder so I wouldn't fall the minute she locked her legs around my waist.

I almost twisted her arm out of its socket when she grabbed onto me, but my reflexes were quicker now than they would've been otherwise, and I unconsciously crushed her against my chest the second she was close enough for me to pull her into my torso. I could feel her heart racing through her back, but when I leaned back to look at her, she was smiling like the little _Syaksyuk_ she always liked to pretend she was. She laughed, squeezing my neck and then easily moving around to be on my back.

"That was cruel," I exclaimed, still holding onto her and gazing out across the courtyard to see Norm and Max coming out of the airlock together.

"I knew you wouldn't let me fall," she declared. "It was fun."

"Well, from now on, please don't do that," I begged. "I think I almost had a heart attack with you dangling there like a worm on a hook. It's bad enough I have to chase Cecilia around the garden and ruin all the produce. I really don't want to have to explain how I let you climb all the way up here and then couldn't catch you before you fell a hundred feet to the ground. Your mom and dad would kill me."

"They'd try," she agreed.

I huffed, grasping onto the ladder and closing my eyes for a second before I began my descent to the ground. She wasn't scared at all — a little daredevil hidden inside a lamb's wool, and she reminded me of this little girl in the village who was always testing her father's patience by getting herself into impossible situations like this one. Na'vi bones were a lot stronger than Elizabeth's, and I didn't want anything to happen to her. I especially didn't want to face her father or her mother if it was my fault.

"Did she coax you up there again?" Max asked from the ground. I glanced back, seeing a smile on his face behind his exopack, and I nodded sheepishly.

I stepped down to the ground, setting her down carefully and then watching her run off before I faced Max and Norm — well, I knelt down so they could look at me without craning their necks. "So, what's the verdict?"

Norm tilted his head curiously. "About what?" he asked.

"Well, you both look like you have news," I said. "So come on. Give it. Whatever it is, I'm a big boy. Is it about Ava?"

"She's fine," Max assured me. "The scans we did this morning show she's just about healed. We did say it'd be a day or two. And Norm told me about the, uh, pregnancy talk you two had the other night. If there's anything we can do to help, just tell us. I think everyone here would agree we wouldn't want anything bad to happen to either of you that could've been prevented."

I glanced at Norm, seeing a distinctive blush in his cheeks as he looked away. I smirked looking at Max. "It's okay," I promised. "I appreciate that. But Ava and me, we'll be okay. If there's anything we need, you guys will be our first stop. Even if some of you can't keep your mouths closed when we're talking about stuff that's supposed to be private," I said pointedly in Norm's direction.

He looked at me, grimacing silently, and he was about to say something when Lisa called to us from the long-house.

"Have you guys had anything to eat?" she asked.

At that moment, I chose not to say anything to Norm, bypassing him and Max to make my way to the long-house where Lisa was standing at the top of the steps with an expectant look on her face. I looked up at her as I made it to the front of the steps, really looking at her and realizing something strange. She didn't have any signs of having aged at all over the last ten years. After everything Amelia had said in her logs, and with everything I remembered, Lisa should've been at least in her late forties. But she barely looked 35. And I was surprised at how I was able to know the difference between those two distinctive age groups. I glanced back to see Norm and Max following suit behind me, and I noticed a look on Norm's face that I'd only ever seen one other time, over ten years earlier when we'd been up in the mountains.

"Ava's reading," she told me. "There's food by her bed if you want to sit with her. I also found some clothes for her that seemed to fit."

I nodded, stepping passed her into the long-house and looking back at Norm. He nodded me forward, pausing at the steps in front of Lisa and watching me like he was expecting me to read the look on his face. How could I have not seen it before? They were the only two people on the base who could move around outside without masks. It probably also helped that they were both scientists in their own fields. But I didn't say anything to either of them. I decided it was up to them if they were going to do anything about it. I had more important things to worry about for now.

Ava and Thomas were lying on her cot reading from one of the several pads Norm had brought her while she was recuperating, and as I got closer to them, I could tell that she was reading aloud to him. I didn't recognize the words she was saying, but when she looked up at me, she smiled, pausing in her reading and causing Thomas to look up at me with his own smile.

"_Ma sempul_," he said with a laugh.

"No, please," I begged holding my hands up. "Don't stop on my account."

Thomas looked at Ava, rising from the cot slowly and moving to where I'd planted myself against the nearest support beam. "It is all right," he assured me. "I have already eaten, and Norm said I could help him this afternoon."

He left without another word, and I chuckled, moving to sit over the side of the cot in front of Ava. She put the pad away, folding her hands over her lap as she laid there in a pair of shorts and a tank top, and I silently wondered where Lisa had gotten clothes for her. Then Ava lifted her hand to my face, easing her fingertips to my brow and then down the bridge of my nose. Chills assailed my senses, and I shook gently, instinctively reaching for her and gripping her waist with both my hands. I remembered her incision, and I started to release her when she scooted closer to me.

"It's okay," she whispered. "I'm okay. I'm eating again, and I'm walking around. I'll be okay."

I laid my forehead over hers, inhaling as deeply as I could and feeling her do the same as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders. She slid both her hands down my back to my waist, and I was immediately reminded of the fact that we hadn't really touched since her surgery. And I was sure the evidence was visible to her because she laughed softly, leaning closer to me and allowing her lips to brush against mine. I acted more impulsively than I had in days, grasping onto her hips and pulling her closer to me until she was in my lap and her chest was pressed against mine. I didn't care that she was wearing clothes, although I would've preferred it if she wasn't wearing anything. She laughed again, her breath catching in her throat as she settled on top of me and the evidence of her power over me.

"Jake," she giggled.

I leaned back only a little, enough to see her eyes as she smiled at me. "I don't want to hurt you," I swore to her.

Her hands found the waist of the jogging pants I was still wearing, the ones I'd decided to wear since I was going to be hanging around five little human girls and their parents, and the instant she slipped one of her hands inside the pants to ease her fingers around the base of my tail, the tent in my pants got worse. I held onto her tighter, grasping onto the hem of her shirt and lifting it above her head slowly until her bare chest was pressed against mine. Her skin was even smoother now than I thought possible, and I connected my lips to hers, slipping my tongue inside her mouth gently and causing her to scoot even closer to me.

"You won't hurt me," she whispered in between kisses.

She became bold in her next movements, releasing my tail and moving her hand to the front of my pants to press her palm against my crotch. I felt a tight groan escape my throat, still kissing her and wrapping an arm around her as I laid her back over the cot. She pulled me to her, slipping her hand inside the waist of my pants and wrapping her fingers around me. I groaned again, pausing in kissing her and laying my forehead over hers as a new, unfamiliar sensation settled over my shoulders and through to the base of my spine. I guess it really had been that long since I'd felt anything like this.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" I pleaded.

"Nowhere," she insisted, nudged her nose against mine and prompting me to lean back and look at her. "I just wanted to."

I leaned back on my hands, pressing my palms to the cot and lowering my eyes over the front of her body. Her skin flushed the minute I touched her, the bioluminescent spots over her shoulders and her chest brightening as I ran the tips of my fingers over them. She shivered gently, biting her lower lips and grasping onto my arms. I leaned down slowly, meaning to lay my mouth over her neck to start when Norm's voice snapped me back to reality.

"Hey, Jake, me and Max were actually needing to talk to . . . you," his last word came out in a whisper, and I groaned softly, leaning down on my forearms as I hovered over Ava helplessly. "Oh, God," he gasped.

I glanced back, seeing his back to us and leaning back slowly. Ava helped me sit up, covering her chest for the first time since I'd met her, and even though I could see she was a little embarrassed, I stood up from the bed with a little difficulty. She stood up behind me, steadying me on my feet as I spoke.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" I asked him.

He kept his back to me, still stuttering. "No, no, it's okay," he insisted. "It can wait. I didn't realize you two were — I mean, I guess I should've known you would want to — And I probably should've said something a little sooner, before you two could — Yeah, I'm gonna go now. We'll talk later."

He started to leave, and even though I was still kind of stiff, I moved forward slowly. "Norm, it's okay," I pleaded. "Just tell me."

He paused, glancing over his shoulder. "It's okay, Jake. Really. It can wait. We'll talk when you're not, um, busy."

He left before I could get any further from the spot where I'd been forced to stop, and I exhaled sharply, turning to face Ava as she still stood there topless. I opened my mouth to speak, but she stopped me, lifting her fingers to my lips and speaking before I had the chance.

"I was going to take a shower before bed," she whispered, lowering her hands to my waist and rising to her toes to lean her lips into mine gently. "You wanna come with me?"

I grinned, holding her against me and nodding silently. She took my hands in hers and pulled me in the general direction of where the showers were located, and I didn't say anything to her when she removed her shorts and then reached out to pull my jogging pants off. I didn't have to help her, even though I reveled in the way her hands felt when she rubbed her palms against my legs when she pulled the pants down and then rose to have her hands over my hips. I knew the showers would be empty, and I was grateful to be alone with her again. I guess I hadn't realized how difficult it would be on the base, but it turned out to be much easier than it would have been in the village.

Our shower was hot and short, and when we made our way back up into the main part of the long-house, I was relieved to see that we'd been left alone — even by Thomas. It seemed like everyone had figured out how much I wanted to be alone with my mate, and even though I was curious as to where my son would be sleeping, the minute I had Ava all to myself, I only thought of her, and I only thought of the two of us together. I knew everything would sort itself out where the base and the village were concerned. For that moment, my world only included me and Ava, and I knew she felt the same way.

Ava laid on the cot first, and I waited for her to get as comfortable as she could since she was still healing before I laid down behind her. Her tail wrapped itself around the side of my body, and she laughed softly, lifting her hand to the back of my head and allowing me as much access to her body as she had several nights before. She shook with chills as the tips of my fingers eased over the side of her body to her hip, and I was relieved that she was naked like I was. Her skin erupted in chill bumps, and she grasped onto the back of my head, scooting closer to me until her back was pressed to the front of my body. I honestly couldn't have imagined doing anything like this now eight months earlier, but as time had gone by, it had felt inevitable, and I liked it. A lot.

"Jake," she whispered, arching her back into me and turning her head to look at me. I leaned closer to her, kissing her almost as deeply as I had before our shower and feeling her tongue mate with mine. She released my head, reaching behind her and pulling her queue into my line of sight. I reached for mine impulsively, and within seconds, we were connected again the way we had been that first night.

Suddenly, I could feel everything she was feeling, only now it was a lot more intense than it had been before. There were still drugs in her system, and I could feel those too, allowing the sensation of being feather-light flood through my body as I leaned down to kiss her again. I also knew she hadn't eaten anything in the last few hours, and that was going to be my first order of business once we took care of a few other things. The pain from her surgery was minimal, if not negligible, but every time my fingers grazed over her healing incision, a sliver of pain filtered through the link. I avoided touching her there, instead rubbing the small of her back and the curve of her bottom near her tail.

There were also tiny memories from her time in the forest that came through this time, and I could see little snippets of her hunting and fishing by herself. When she felt the tinge of guilt I still felt over her getting lost in the forest, she leaned away and made me look at her. But she didn't really need to say anything. I knew so much time had passed, and there was nothing I was gonna be able to do to fix or even change what had happened. That didn't mean I wasn't ever going to feel bad about it ever again, and she understood that.

"It's okay," she whispered, even though she didn't have to. I had to admit, hearing her say that did make it a little better.

I grinned slightly, laying my forehead against hers and gently kissing her again, and through our link, I knew she felt the need as much as I did. She pulled both our braids over her shoulder, moving them out of the way as she eased her hand down the side of my own body until she was holding onto my hip. She pulled me even closer to her, until there was no space between us at all, and it didn't matter where we were. It didn't matter what was going to happen when we got home. This was all that mattered, and she made sure I understood that the second she took me in her hand again as it had become increasingly possible in the last several minutes.

When the need diminished and she was laying behind me with her arms around my chest, I fell asleep more easily than I had since the night after her surgery. And while I slept, I dreamed. It hadn't been that long since my psycho-active induced dream, but the dream I had that night was even more confusing, even if it wasn't about me.

The inside of the base still looked the way it had in the dream I'd had before, but I felt strangely out-of-body, like I wasn't me, but a breeze or a sound on the wind that carried important messages. I was floating in and out of rooms, hearing a few stray conversations here and there. And when I settled inside one of the newer parts of the lab, I thought for a second I was seeing somebody's memories. But then I recognized the four people standing around the small table in the middle of the room.

"_We've got to tell him,"_ Max was saying, standing beside Helen as Mitch and David stood on the other side of the table. _"The way I see it, we've run out of any other options. And things have changed."_

"_But we don't have a way of fixing what went wrong,"_ David argued, his green eyes confused as he stared at Max. _"And you know he'll want to fix it."_

Max sighed heavily, glancing at Helen and leaning over the table. _"I know it's been ten years,"_ he told David, looking between him and Mitch. _"I know we've all moved on with our lives, and no matter what comes on that shuttle, nothing's going to change how we live here. But I'm the one who has to see him, and I'm the one who's been lying to him. I can't do it anymore."_

"_What are you going to say?" _Helen asked softly, holding onto Max securely. _"We all decided not to tell anyone. Lisa doesn't even know."_

Max nodded. _"I know. But like I said, things have changed. We didn't know all the facts before, when we agreed to keep this between us, and I know everything now. I know how they ended up out there, and I know what they were trying to do."_ He paused, lifting his eyes like he could see me, but he didn't make any kind of acknowledgment. In fact, he stood up and moved around the table to the wall next to me where a set of cryopods was currently being monitored. _"The next time he comes in here, I'm gonna just lay it all out for him. And he can do what he feels is right. I have to trust him. We all do."_

"_What do you think he'll say?" _Mitch asked softly, his own blue eyes sad, if not regretful. _"We never even thought we could get the avatars into cryopods, and now that they're in here, how do you think he'll react to knowing we had _them_ here the whole time?"_

Max shook his head. _"I honestly don't know. But I'll do it. So don't worry about him being pissed at you. This was my decision. And what he does after he knows will be up to him. Just get back to the lab. I'll be there afterward."_

Neither Mitch nor David spoke, moving away from the table and then leaving the room while Helen stayed behind. She moved to Max's side, wrapping her arms around him and whispering.

"_You did the right thing," _she told him, smiling and laughing. _"They would've died if you hadn't done what you did. You know that right?"_

"_I know," _he nodded. _"And thanks. But you should go too. I've got to do this alone, and then if he wants to have a — a meeting or something, we'll all talk then. Okay?"_

She nodded silently, letting go of him and then stepping out of the room slowly.

Once she was gone, Max pressed a few buttons on the cryopod next to him, apparently gazing inside even though it was shut and whispering softly. _"I didn't know who you were ten years ago. But I do now. And I promise you I'm going to do the right thing. No matter what that is. I promise you'll see her again."_

He pressed the same buttons, gazing around the room and then moving to the control panel where a few chairs were still setting. I tried to move closer, but the door opened then, allowing in a soft breeze and causing the image I was seeing to dissipate like a wall of mist being disrupted by a strong wind.

The inside of the long-house filled my sight as the light of morning began to brighten the space around me. I felt Ava's arms around me, lifting my hands to hers and squeezing gently. I tried not to think about my dream, but I did know one thing. Whatever Norm had been meaning to tell me, it was more important than he realized.

* * *

On the morning of the fifth day we were on the base, I finally got around to talking to Norm about how things were going in the lab. He told me about the new part of the lab, where the avatars were being kept under sedation and suspended animation to keep them from dying. So far, all of the avatars that had been on the base when RDA had vacated the premises were in perfect condition, despite having been in cryopods for over ten years. Norm said that if their drivers ever got the chance to use them again, it'd be like no time had passed at all. I mentioned to him how there seemed to be one extra avatar that didn't appear to have a driver roaming around the base, but Norm didn't see the discrepancy in the lab logs.

So far, every long-range sensor the satellites on the base had were all turned all the way up to pick up every possible movement in the skies, and while I was on the base, I saw what Norm saw — the shuttle along with a smaller ISV carrying it on a steady trajectory to Pandora. I also saw spacial anomalies, meteorites, and three orbital satellites oriented directly above the base. Max assured me the only readings any ship coming toward Pandora would get would be old reports from when the refinery was still operational. He said he'd been scrambling the base's outgoing signal since the week after the second shuttle had left with most of the rest of the humans, and any incoming signals were promptly decrypted and saved to a back-up file in case anyone came along and tried to delete any of the information he'd collected over the years. I was actually surprised by his technological prowess with the computers, since it wasn't really his area of expertise. But apparently being one of the few computer techs on the base had made it a priority to learn how everything worked. For that one thing, I was actually incredibly grateful.

When I asked Norm what he'd come to talk to me about that night, I found it incredibly difficult to get him to open up about it. Even though it had apparently been important enough for him to come into the long-house to tell me, the few days that passed seemed to have allowed the whole thing to escape him.

"It wasn't really anything important," he told me while we were walking across the courtyard to the long-house after sitting in his 'outside' lab to look at the readings from the satellite. "I thought it was, but now that Ava's completely recovered, I don't think it matters anymore. You're okay now, right?"

He looked up at me, and even though I could tell he was dodging the subject, I nodded. "I'm okay," I agreed. "That doesn't mean — "

"And Ava's okay, isn't she?"

I exhaled heavily, glancing at him as we walked. "Yes. Of course, she's okay. Now just tell me what you were going to tell me before. I told you, I'm a big boy, and I can handle it."

Norm stopped, and I did too, watching him ball his hands into fists. "I don't doubt that," he agreed. "And normally, I'd tell you everything, even if it was the smallest thing. But this isn't important anymore. And if you knew this, it would change everything. I know you want to focus on Ava now, and I don't want to do anything to change that. So come on. Just don't worry about it, and as soon as your entourage gets here, we'll talk about the next time you're going to come back."

I realized he had a point, but I didn't like the look on his face. Whenever he had that look, something bad always happened, and I didn't need any more bad things happening now that everything was settling down again. But I didn't want to press the issue any further than I already had, so I simply bowed my head and nodded.

Ava and Lisa were sitting on the front deck of the long-house netting what looked like a new hammock, and Thomas was packing up the few things we'd decided to take back to the village with us. After having been on the base this time with a better understanding of everything that had happened, Ava had decided to take back a few reading pads to read at night, and Thomas was carrying a pouch of mementos Elizabeth and Keira had made for him. I'd tried to tell him we would be coming back, but the girls had insisted, so I didn't argue.

As soon as Norm and I were close enough to the front steps, Ava looked up to see us, and she smiled as she sat there in a new breast band and loincloth Lisa had helped her make. I'd also relinquished my pants, since we were all getting ready to leave, and then Lisa looked up at me, but I was pretty sure she was looking at Norm. I stopped at the foot of the steps, and Norm did too, leaning against the post there while we waited for everyone else inside the lab. He gazed around the courtyard, speaking softly after a few more seconds passed.

"You know I never thought any of this would happen," he said, lifting his eyes to mine. "I mean, the whole thing. Coming here, learning about all of this, choosing to stay here." He paused, and I sat down to be level-eyed with him.

"Kinda makes you wonder if you could go back and do it all over again, huh?" I questioned, not meaning to smile but feeling a small one cross my face nonetheless.

"Oh, I wouldn't go back," he declared. "Maybe a year or two after everyone else was gone, I might have entertained the idea of possibly going back. But honestly? Now? That was over ten years ago. I accepted a really long time ago that this was my home now, and I was better off here than I ever would've been back there. And injecting myself with the compound so I could breathe out here? Well, that was just the last thing I could do to make it as permanent as possible."

"What about your avatar?" I asked softly, glancing at Lisa and realizing she was listening to us covertly. "Surely, you have to have missed that. I know I would."

He chuckled softly, folding his arms over his chest. "Yeah, I know you would too. And at first, I think I would've done just about anything to have it back. But without me inside it, it was pretty much useless to try and save it. I won't say I didn't miss it at first. Because I did. But time went by, and I knew I could survive without it. Plus, I only had it for three months, so it's not like I had a long adjustment period. I'm okay, Jake. Really. Let's just look forward now. We have a lot of work to do, and I'm ready to get started on it."

Talking about Norm's avatar had me thinking about the day he'd lost it in the forest, and I could still remember how determined he'd been to find it, only to discover three holes in the chest and enough blood soaking the ground for him to be certain the avatar was dead. I could also still remember how he'd tried to recount the whole thing to me, and I knew he would never forget what it felt like. But he wasn't dwelling on it, and I didn't see a reason for me to dwell on it either.

"Yeah," I said rising slowly. "We need to get going."

The airlock opened a moment later, allowing the little entourage of people into the courtyard as nine little kids came running toward the long-house. I smiled when I saw them, glancing at Norm and then Lisa before I made my way toward them. I noticed Joshua holding a sour look on his face, and I tried to look at least a little enthusiastic about having to say goodbye to them again. I knew they all liked it when I came, and I hoped they all knew I was going to be back a lot sooner the next time.

Joseph, Marie and Keira came to me first, and I gave each of them as tight an embrace as I could. They'd all gotten so big since I'd seen them last, but they were still tiny, and I was looking forward to seeing them grow up. Connor, Cecilia and Douglas all brought me their own mementos in a small pouch, and I promised each of them I would find a perfect place for everything they gave me. I made a mental note to talk to one of the weavers in the village about making something for the kids so I could give them all a gift when I came back. Elizabeth gave me as big of a bear hug as she could despite me being more than twice her size, and I held her close.

"Try not to drive your mom and dad crazy while I'm gone," I told her, and she leaned back to pull up her exopack and kiss me on the cheek. I smiled and kissed her forehead, allowing her to step away from me.

"I'm gonna be looking for a new hiding place," she promised, extending her pinky to me and smiling proudly as I reciprocated despite my pinky being a lot bigger than hers.

She looked back at Josh, and he rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest stubbornly. I urged him forward, and he moved slowly, glaring up at his mother and father and then remarking abrasively. "This fucking sucks," he exclaimed.

"Hey," I yelled, before either of his parents could step in. "Watch the language."

"But you shouldn't have to leave," he griped. "This just sucks!"

I took his arms in my hands, turning him to face me. "Listen," I pleaded. "It's okay to be mad. But you need to be the one to make an example. And you know I'm coming back. Until I get back, I'm gonna need you to keep an eye on everybody smaller than you. Okay?" I lifted my fist to his, and he reluctantly lifted his fist to mine. I could see him trying not to lose his composure, and I pulled him into my chest, holding him against me tightly. "I'll be back in a few weeks, all right? I might even bring a few more people with me."

"Okay," he agreed, his voice muffled against my shoulder.

I nudged him back then, sitting back on my calves as Helen moved closer and set Fiona on the ground a few feet from me. I sat and waited, watching her steady herself on her feet and then make her way to me slowly. I smiled, holding my arms out and allowing her to walk to me until I could lift her into my chest and hold her against me. "That's a good girl," I whispered, kissing her cheek. She giggled, and I rose slowly, carrying her back to Helen and stepping back as the other kids gathered around their parents.

Norm and Lisa joined us then with Ava and Thomas, and while the two former avatar drivers joined their colleagues, I took Ava's hand and pulled her off to the other side of the South Lawn where Zawng and Hawnuyu were coming in for a landing. While Ava mounted her own _ikran_ with a pouch filled with her reading pads, I pulled Thomas onto my _ikran_ with me, waving at everyone else and then lifting off to get on our way back to the village.

"We are coming back, right?" Thomas asked as we flew home.

"We are," I told him.

He just smiled.

* * *

Despite having enjoyed being on the base as much as I had, I was relieved when the tall, cathedral-like canopy of Hometree came into view as it towered over the rest of the forest. I silently wondered what had been going on since I'd left, and I was instantly reminded of the comm unit still setting in my alcove. I decided before even landing that the first thing I would do would be to show one of the hunters to use so there wouldn't be a lapse in communication the next time I went to the base. I wasn't sure how I was gonna keep up with how much time went by, but I'd figure something out. I always did.

The topmost branches of Hometree were buzzing with activity from the other _ikrans_ as they reacted to our arrival, and when I landed, I got Thomas down safely a few seconds before Ava followed, still carrying a pouch with her reading pads in them and gesturing for Hawnuyu to make himself comfortable in the branches. I knew she'd be back to feed him, but for now, I knew we were all happy to be home. She joined me and Thomas after a minute, and we all turned to make our way down to the ground, only to be faced with Eyreal as she emerged from the shadows.

"You have returned," she deduced, moving closer to us slowly. I could see a flicker of guilt in her eyes, and I glanced at Ava, stepping ahead of her to be in front of Eyreal.

"You knew we'd be back," I assured her. "This is my home. It's their home too. What's wrong?"

She looked at Ava, staring almost half a minute and then looking at me. "I should not have left things the way I did," she insisted, and I tried to stop her, but she held her hand up. "Please. I did not intend to become angry or . . . hurt. I knew her wishes, and I knew yours. It should not have affected me as it did, and I am sorry I allowed it to taint my wishes for you both. You are all right?" she asked, and I realized she meant me and Ava together.

I glanced at Ava, reaching for her hand and pulling her to my side. "We're fine," I promised. "There was a little trouble when we got to the base, but it all worked out."

The guilt on her face turned to worry as she stepped closer to Ava, probably sensing something different about her. "What has happened? Is it _sawtute_?"

I shook my head. "No." Then I paused. "Well, not yet. Norm says it'll still be a while before we have to worry about that. But it's okay now. Don't worry. Please."

She bowed her head then. "I will try." Another half a minute passed, and she lifted her eyes to mine. "But we have been awaiting your return anxiously."

I stood up straight, feeling my demeanor change from relaxed to tense in less than five seconds. "What's happening here?"

"Neyla is ready to give birth," she informed me, reminding me of all those responsibilities I'd been able to leave behind for the last five days. It also made me think of something Helen had said. Then Eyreal continued. "Tsa'teo has been hovering," she said of Neyla's mate, "but this morning, she said she and the baby were ready. You arrive in time to help with ceremony."

I couldn't stop the thought from leaving my mouth, smiling at her as I said, "Well, I always did have impeccable timing."

She looked at me confused, but I just shook my head, pulling Ava with me as Thomas followed us to the ground where daily activities were continuing on as usual.

I did my best to remember Neyla and her mate while we walked, thinking it had actually been a little while since any women in the village had given birth. The last one had been while Ava had still be training, and Mo'at had been there to oversee it. I realized this was probably going to be the first birth Eyreal presided over, and I knew she had to be a little nervous. I'd been nervous the first time I'd done it too, even though my job had been a lot less complicated and hadn't involved much else other than simply announcing the baby's birth the village when everything was finished.

While Ava and Thomas stepped off at our alcove to put their things away, Eyreal guided me to the birthing alcove where Mo'at was currently sitting with the expectant parents. Watching them made me think of the night when I'd been waiting for Thomas to be born, and even though I hadn't been allowed in because I'd also been meant to preside over the rest of the village, every other time after that, I'd been expected to watch the birth to see the child be born to their parents. Some of the expecting couples had actually _asked_ me to come. I guess being Toruk Makto had carried a lot of weight, since it meant to them that their child would not only be blessed by their Clan leader, but also the man who'd rid their world of the Sky People — well, most of them anyway.

"You have arrived in time," Mo'at announced. She gestured to Neyla. "She is very nearly ready. It will happen before the mid-night hour arrives."

Eyreal oriented herself around Neyla, and as I settled in next to Mo'at, I watched the _tsahik_-in-training assist the couple in giving birth to their first child.

In observing Eyreal through the afternoon and into the night, I couldn't exactly describe how I was feeling. I'd overseen the birth of many children with Neytiri, and I'd always admired her for being calm and forethinking. She'd never ceased to amaze me with her ability to say the right things and consider the situation in front of her if things started to go wrong. Out of all the children she'd helped deliver, only a handful of them had even had a chance of turning out badly, but she'd always known what to do. But watching Eyreal was nothing like watching Neytiri.

The expectant parents didn't seem to be worried about her having never done anything like that before, and honestly, I couldn't tell she'd never done it before. She was able to gauge every contraction perfectly, and when Neyla began to push, I don't think I'd ever seen a smile so beautiful than the one I saw on Eyreal's face. She looked perfectly at ease helping the young mother give birth to her baby, and even though the whole thing lasted the rest of the day, the moment the baby was born, it was easy to see the tension leave Eyreal's face when she looked at me.

"It is a girl," she revealed, and I moved closer to her to get a look myself.

Even though she was a newborn, this baby was already the size of Fiona, and she looked fragile inside Eyreal's arms. The baby let out a loud wail as she was passed from Eyreal's arms to mine, and I held her for maybe half a minute to get a good feel for her. Her little hand found one of my fingers, and I scooted closer to Tsa'teo as he crouched next to his mate. His own smile was about as wide as the wingspan of a banshee, and he gazed at his daughter.

"She's beautiful," I chuckled softly. "May Eywa be with her all her days and beyond. And both of you too."

I slowly passed the newborn baby girl to her mother, and Tsa'teo bowed his head to me, grasping Neyla's hand.

"Thank you, _olo'eyktan_," he said graciously.

"We'll give you a few minutes," I whispered, clapping a hand to his shoulder and then easing back to where Eyreal was fixing a mending solution for Neyla. Mo'at had already stepped out of the alcove, probably to announce the birth, and even though I knew I still had a little thing to do before too much time passed, I was actually happy just waiting for the two new parents to bond with their new little girl.

The inside of the alcove had gotten warm over the afternoon, and I was suddenly thinking about getting a bath before I turned in. I observed Eyreal for the time being, watching her tend to Neyla and then helping her with the coverings for the baby. I couldn't hide my amazement of her, absently gushing over her achievements of the afternoon.

"If I didn't know any better," I began, "I'd think you'd been doing that your whole life. It was kind of like you were made for it."

Even in the dim light of the alcove, I saw her cheeks darken slightly, and I leaned closer to her. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. But you were amazing. It wasn't like anything I've ever seen before."

She laughed softly, packing the last of the mending cloths for Neyla and speaking softly. "Then I will tell you secret," she informed me. "I observe Neytiri and the _tsahik_ as a young girl. And following one's instincts is always best way to go."

I shook my head slightly. "One of these days, I'm gonna figure you out," I said to her. "And that's a promise."

I moved back to Neyla's other side, watching her daughter suck on her thumb while she waited for food, and when Neyla saw me, she smiled, even though she looked like she'd just run a 10K marathon and then back to the village.

"What are we naming her?" I asked them softly.

Neyla lifted her eyes to Tsa'teo even as he laid his hand over her forehead and leaned over to kiss her brow as she whispered. "Tsa'tara," she said to me. "After Teo's father and mother."

I gazed at the little girl, thinking silently about how well the name suited her and then suddenly thinking about Amelia. I'm not sure what prompted the thought. Either watching the baby girl open her eyes and look at her parents for the first time or something on Neyla's face made me think of when Amelia had given birth all those years ago. And just like that, I was thinking about Ava again. And without even meaning to, I was thinking about what a child of ours would look like. I couldn't really understand where the thought came from, but I couldn't stop it. I didn't want to.

It was well passed midnight when I was finally relieved of my duties while Neyla and Tsa'teo were sleeping soundly with daughter, and I found myself hungry for the first time since breakfast, making my way to where we usually had all our meals to find something for the night even if I was sure I just needed to sleep. A few elderly villagers were tending to the fire there, and they gave me a food wrap since I guess it looked like I was about to fall over from exhaustion. I wasn't even sure why I was so tired, but there was only one thing on my mind. I knew as soon as I saw her, all the exhaustion would dissipate — at least for a little while.

There were a few younger hunters still lingering around the grounds of the village, and since I knew Thomas was already safe inside the hammock he still had next to Eyreal's, I made my way over to the three or four teenagers there slowly, nibbling steadily on the food in my hands. They all looked up at me as I got closer to them, but they remained still, waiting until I was in front of them to stop talking.

"Have any of you seen Ava?" I asked softly.

The girl among them smiled slightly, laying her hand over the arm of the boy next to her. "She is bathing, _olo'eyktan_," she told me, her smile knowing as she pointed toward the waterfalls.

I didn't indicate anything overt, even though I bowed my head graciously and then turned to leave. The walk was quiet as I ate, and I absently thought about whether Ava had brought a _pa'li_ with her the way we had the last time we'd been at the waterfalls together. I heard the water before I was within ten meters of the waterfall pool, and even in the darkness of the midnight hours, the bioluminescence of the forest gave me plenty of light to find Ava as she stood in the pool near the waterfall by herself. She was naked, wading through the water up to her hips with her back to me, and I discarded what was left of the food to remove my own clothes and join her.

The water was cold as I stepped into it, submerging my whole body and feeling an afternoon's worth of sweat and grime rinse away from my skin as I swam through the water to the ledge of the pool and climbed up in to make my way to where she was standing. The algae under the water glowed pink and green, highlighting all of the freckles and bright spots over Ava's skin, and when she heard me, she turned to see me there. Her hair was completely down, hanging passed her waist and soaking wet as she pulled it over her shoulder to wring out the water. She smiled when she saw me, her eyes drifting down passed my waist and then back up to my eyes as she made her way to me slowly.

"You've been released on good behavior," she commented, coming to stand in front of me and getting up on her toes to rest her hands over my shoulders. "I was wondering when you would get out of there."

I laughed softly, rubbing both my hands over the curve of her back and leaning down to kiss her gently. "You'd be amazed what a smile and a friendly disposition will get you around these parts," I quipped, allowing my palm to glide over the mound of her bottom. She made a small sound against my lips, smiling and wrapping her arms around my shoulders. "What did you do all afternoon?" I whispered.

"Thomas and I went fishing," she informed me. "And I've learned that I can't catch any fish without a spear. It was a disaster for the fish."

I snickered unconsciously, pulling her closer until I could feel my need for her pressed to her stomach. She lowered her hands to my arms, caressing the tip of my nose with hers. I couldn't think about anything except standing there with her in my arms, not even the fact that we were more exposed out here than we had been so far. The desire she'd awakened in me didn't care either, allowing me to lift her in my arms and carry her to one of the rocks that would allow us to face each other and kiss without me having to lean over so far or her to crane her neck back. I found one that wasn't too submerged, sitting over the smooth surface and allowing her to straddle my legs as she sat in front of me.

"Mo'at said Neyla had a baby girl," she said softly, caressing the bright spots across the top of my chest. "She was probably beautiful."

I smiled, leaning my face into hers and kissing her lightly. "She was. She'll be a heartbreaker for sure."

"She was probably perfect too," she whispered, wrapping her arm around the back of my shoulders and taking my other hand in hers to entwine our fingers gently. "Blue skin. Amber eyes. Four digits on her hands and feet. People will accept her a lot more easily that way."

I was surprised to see sadness in her eyes, and I leaned back to look at her even as I pulled her closer with my arm around her hips. "People accepted Thomas when he was born. They've accepted you. They'll accept our children too. And not just because they'll be mine, but because they'll be yours too."

She smiled thoughtfully, laying her forehead against mine. "You want to have children with me?" she whispered.

"Of course I do," I promised. "I'd be crazy not to."

She laughed softly, leaning closer and kissing me to begin her persuasions from the very beginning even though I was already halfway there.

I didn't mean it as a lie either. I really did want to have children with her. She was my mate, and it was accepted now that we would be together for that very purpose. And even though I remembered what Norm had said about it being difficult, that didn't mean we couldn't try. It didn't mean we had to be careful, and I wasn't going to let a detail like that override the need I felt to be with her whenever I wanted. I hadn't seen her all afternoon, and this was really going to be the only time I had to be alone with her. I wasn't going to deny her any of her wishes, especially since I now knew this had been one of them. If it was meant to happen, I knew it would, and no one would be able to stop it, not even all those scientific terms Norm had used to inform me of how difficult it would be for Ava. If it made her happy, I would _will_ it happen if I had to.

* * *

_He watched them now not to keep them safe but to confirm his own suspicions. It had only been luck that the _olo'eyktan_ had discovered Rey'sik first the last time, and he did not intend to make the same mistake twice. Now that no one suspected him, he knew it would do no harm in putting his own needs ahead of those of the Clan. How could it be a good need for the _olo'eyktan_ to bear children with someone like Ava? Not that he hadn't entertained his own desire to do so. But the clan leader's offspring was supposed to be pure — or as pure as they could be given the clan leader's history._

_He watched the _olo'eyktan_ and his mate make _tsaheylu_ as they engaged in the second most intimate act of mating, and he felt his anger flare. It was completely disgraceful for the _olo'eyktan_ to not be with the _tsahik_. Coincidence did not lend to the excuse that it had been done before. The clan leader probably hadn't even given her the option of being anyone else's mate. Perhaps it was time to show her what she would never have. Yes, that would be his plan. Especially now that no one would suspect him of being anymore than her friend._

_He turned away from the newly mated pair grudgingly, listening from a distance and cursing these lingering feelings he still harbored for her. He told himself he was not doing this to harm her. He made himself believe this would be for her own good. He wasn't sure how it would turn out to be a good thing, but by Eywa, he swore he would make the _olo'eyktan_ see the error of his ways. After having his trust and uneasy feelings place in the man's hands and then just as easily dismissed, it was no more than he deserved._

_

* * *

_

**Are we keeping up? I'll let you decide what you think is happening and how many insights have actually been revealed. I'll give you a little: the past and the present are about to collide in a really big way. Stay tuned.**

**And now on to the definitions!**

**_Syaksyuk -_ Prolemuris**

**_Ma sempul - _Father**

**_ikran - _Mountain Banshee (and they're apparently really handy in a tight spot)**

**_Sawtute - _Sky People**

**_Tsahik - _Interpreter for Eywa (this is what Mo'at and Eyreal are)**

**_olo'eyktan - _clan leader**

**_pa'li - _Direhorse (about the size of elephants to us)**

**

* * *

**

**All righty then! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I know I did. And I'm working on the next one right now.**

**Until next time, keep calm & Carry on!  
**


	27. Direction

**I'm alive! Barely since I'm currently under the weather and sound like a chain-smoker according to my nephew. I've been working as hard as my cold will let me on this chapter, and we're on the move as far as the last few chapters here. I didn't think it would take me this long to get this chapter out, but I had to read script passages and get a little inspiration from some strange places to get through all the little fiddly bits concerning Jake and Eyreal. I'm actually really looking forward to the way this chapter will lead into the next one, and though I don't want to spoil you, some pretty big revelations are on the horizon - just to keep you posted.**

**As for this chapter, things get a little steamy between Jake and Ava - literally and figuratively - but it should be mostly okay for any of the younger readers still reading this particular journey. And I hope we all enjoy seeing the softer side of Jake - at least where his interaction with the little ones is concerned.**

**But enough of me! On with the reading!  
**

* * *

_**Direction**_

Three days after Ava and I got back to the village, Taw'biht requested his _Uniltaron_. I think I tried to figure out why he was doing it, since it was obvious he was still upset over me and Ava becoming mates. But he was quickly approaching his 18th birthday according to Eyreal, and she somehow convinced me he was simply ready for the last step to become an adult in the Clan. I decided it didn't have anything to do with me or Ava.

But I still made him wait a few more days since I had to spend as much time as I could showing the few of our hunters I thought could handle the responsibility of handling a comm unit how to use the throat and ear piece. I tried to give one to Tu'San, but he turned down the additional task because he said he already had too many things to do as it was already. I was surprised at his refusal, but I did kind of understand. He was still training other hunters, leading hunts into the forest and guiding potential hunters into the mountains to tame their _ikrans_. But all the other hunters I approached said yes before I could even finish asking for their help, even Rey'sik. I could still remember hating him with a seething passion, and now he was willing to put his life in my hands.

During the few days I gave Taw'biht to wait for his ritual, I started to see something different about Ava. She wasn't exactly distant. During the night when we slept, she was even more attentive than I thought possible, but she held something back when we bonded. And even though she was even more active as far as doing things in the village, she got distracted easily. I tried asking her what was wrong, but it was difficult to get her alone without the few girls she'd been able to make friends with somewhere nearby. It got worse as the day of Taw'biht's _Uniltaron_ drew closer, and she had a look on her face that morning that made me think of something Norm had said to me the morning after Ava and I had become mated. And I realized what was wrong with her.

Since Eyreal hadn't overseen anyone's _Uniltaron_ as part of her training, Mo'at agreed to join the ritual even though several other elders and hunters would be gathered to take part in this event. I was required to be there, and even though I knew Ava would want to be there, I tried to convince her to stay away since I knew it was possible that Taw'biht could die if the ritual didn't go as planned. I also knew she would probably never forgive me if something happened to him, even if it wasn't my fault.

"If it was anyone else, you would let me be there," she argued as I sat with her watching her mix the ceremonial paint with Eyreal.

"If it were anyone else, I wouldn't be worried. But I'm worried about him. And I don't want you to be there if something goes wrong." I reached for her hands, removing them from the paint pods and turning her to face me even though she wouldn't look at me. "Ava, listen to me. This is serious, and when I went through it, no one thought I would survive. And even though I did, the odds were against me. The only reason I went through with it was because somebody told me I couldn't. And I'm worried that's why he's doing it. Because of —"

"Because of me," she concluded, lifting her eyes to mine, and I could see how scared she was.

I exhaled softly, glancing at Eyreal to see her silently mixing and trying to look like she wasn't paying attention to us argue.

"Because of everything," I told Ava. "And we're both a part of that. But if you're there, it could make things worse for him and for you. I don't want you to carry that burden. Please just trust me."

"I do," she swore. "But you have to trust me. If I'm not there for him and something goes wrong, I'll always be haunted by it. Besides, he would've been there for me had I decided to do it. And don't forget how close I came to making that decision."

I shut my eyes, still holding her hands and leaning forward to lay my forehead over hers. "I trust you," I whispered. "And I don't like seeing you this scared. So if it will ease your fears, you can be there. But you have to stay out of the way," I stipulated. "And no matter what happens, let me handle it. Okay?"

She nodded silently, and I leaned back to look at her, holding her eyes for a few seconds before I looked at Eyreal. She nodded just once, and knowing she was calm helped me take control of the worry I still harbored. If this could just go smoothly, then hopefully, everything in the village would start to calm down for a little while. At least, that's what I hoped.

The day wore on while Eyreal, Mo'at and I prepared for the ritual. There were things that would be needed to make the ceremony possible, and I watched Taw'biht leave the village just before lunch to catch his own arachnoid. I remembered doing the same thing the day of my own Dream Hunt, and it made the whole thing very real. I also remembered fasting most of the day and the night before, so I wasn't expecting Taw'biht to be back in the village until the ritual.

I lost track of Ava after she and Eyreal finished with the ceremonial paint, and even though I did have things I had to do before we took Taw'biht into the circle, I found myself looking for my mate when the midday meal came. When I found her, she was talking to another female hunter whom I realized was the same girl who'd told me where Ava was the night we'd come back from the base. I remembered her also being one of the few girls Ava had become friends with over the last several months, and I silently wondered what they were talking about.

The ritual was scheduled to start just before sunset, and Taw'biht returned in time for Eyreal to prepare him for the ceremony. I tried not to overreact when she chose Ava to help her, and Mo'at tried to distract me by bringing me the stone jar that held the captured arachnoid we would be using for the ritual. I watched Eyreal and Ava walk Taw'biht to one of the enclosed alcoves, further allowing Mo'at to guide me away from them toward where the other elders and hunters had already gathered at the very center of the base of Hometree.

"This is something she must do," Mo'at told me. "And it is something you must let her do. Things like this will become much more clear to you as time passes."

I looked over my shoulder one last time, seeing Eyreal and Ava as they guided Taw'biht into the alcove, and then Ava looked back at me. She didn't say anything, bowing her head and following Eyreal until I couldn't see her anymore. After that moment, I had to focus on what I was about to do so I wouldn't be distracted. I couldn't let anything bad happen now that I knew Ava was going to be there, and I didn't know how make sure everything would turn out all right. That really bothered me.

Taw'biht joined the tight circle of elders and hunters that had gathered for his Dream Hunt covered in the swirls and intricate patterns of the ceremonial paint meant to symbolize his passage from being a child to an adult. Eyreal followed him, making him settle near the small fire at the center of the circle, and even though I could tell Ava wanted to be closer to him, she disappeared into the back of the gathered hunters until I had to look for her to find her.

Eyreal moved to Taw'biht's side first, having collected the herbs meant to purify him in the ritual and allowing him to wash the smoke over him with his hands. While they did this, Mo'at helped me with the stone jar that held his captured arachnoid, opening the jar as I reached into the jar as carefully as I could without getting stung myself. I'd actually done this enough to accomplish my task easily, and once I had the insect securely in hand, Mo'at drifted back to the other elders. I watched Eyreal then, seeing her uncover the wood she'd gathered earlier that day and waiting as she caught the end of the glowing _eltungawng_ as it attempted to twist out of her fingers. I couldn't tell she'd never done this before, and I was surprised at how confident she was as she spoke.

"_Oh, wise worm," _she whispered,_ "eater of the Sacred Tree, bless this worthy Hunter with a true vision." _

She lifted the worm slowly, and Taw'biht opened his mouth, accepting the worm and closing his mouth around it with the calmness of someone who had always known he would have to do this one day. I'd never had that calm way about me, not even after three months with Neytiri and her people. I was still confident that Taw'biht had simply decided it was time for him to do this, and when Eyreal looked at me, I didn't hesitate, moving in with the insect and laying its small form over the back of Taw'biht's neck. The arachnoid drove its stinger into its victim's skin, causing him to grimace softly under the immediately pain, and I moved away slowly, joining Eyreal and the others as Taw'biht doubled over in agony.

I watched him carefully, thinking of my own Dream Hunt and remembering how it had felt. It had probably been the strangest, if not the most disturbing experience of my life up to that point. While I looked on at Taw'biht cry out and writhe in the dirt, I thought about the vision I'd had, and I worried every time a Hunter requested his or her Dream Hunt. I worried one of them would see our future, and I thought about how much no one would be able to stop it even if we were prepared and even if we knew what would happen. I thought about now when we were waiting on the shuttle to come, and I hated thinking even worse things were on their way to our home.

He rolled over onto his hands and knees, foaming at the mouth and clawing at the dirt beneath his fingers, and he suddenly began yelling, half in English and half in his own tongue. _"Tspang! _We kill them!_ Ayfo poe tìsraw seyki. Awnga ayfo zene tspang!"_

My eyes left him, searching everyone else there for Ava, and I felt my heart leap into my throat the moment her eyes found mine. I couldn't understand it, but whatever Taw'biht was seeing was even bigger than him or any of the hunters and elders watching him. Eyreal's hand came over my arm, bringing my attention to her and then the boy we were supposed to be watching as he fell to his side, now vomiting and trying to fight the sensations washing over his taut body. He grabbed his own throat, gasping for air, and for a moment, I began to think something was wrong. I wasn't sure if he couldn't breathe, or if it was just my overactive imagination at work.

"_Oe tsunke . . ."_

I moved forward only to be stopped by Eyreal, and I glanced at her, seeing a warning in her eyes and knowing that if I intervened it would mean something worse than death if Taw'biht didn't survive his _Uniltaron_ on his own. I looked at him again, watching him pitch forward onto his hands and then turn over to face me and Eyreal with heavy eyes. He groaned weakly, and Eyreal moved forward slowly, splaying her hands over his face and looking into his eyes. Then she looked at me.

"It is finished."

I glanced in Ava's direction, seeing intense relief wash over her face, and she bowed her head from everyone else before I moved to Eyreal's side slowly. I laid my hands over Taw'biht's shoulders, and he looked me square in the eyes.

"Did you see your Spirit Animal?" I asked softly.

He hesitated, glancing around the tight circle and seeming to find Ava within the sea of other faces around him. "I see _nantang_. Many and only one."

I looked at Eyreal, confused, and she turned him to face her.

"You have seen something that will take time to understand," she whispered, glancing at me and then everyone else. "We will discover this together when you are stronger."

She moved away slowly, and I looked at him, rising to my feet and gesturing for him to do the same. He was unsteady on his feet for several seconds, and I waited for him to regain his bearing before I guided him back out of the small gathering.

Everyone in the clan was waiting for us, quietly anticipating to hear what had happened, and I could see many people relieved that Taw'biht had survived his Dream Hunt. I had to admit, I was relieved myself, and not just for Ava's sake. Since he'd tamed his banshee and started hunting with me, I'd come to rely on him as a trusted member of the clan, and I didn't want to think about what would've happened if he hadn't survived. I was glad even though I still had doubts about why he'd asked to do this. I silently resolved then to be with Eyreal when she talked to him about what he'd seen. From what he'd said, it sounded serious.

Taw'biht gazed around at everyone gathered, but he said nothing as I turned him to face me. I laid my hands over his shoulders, looking into his eyes and knowing for sure he knew what this meant even as I spoke.

"_Ngenga 'itan omatikayoe luyu set," _I said loud enough for everyone to hear me._ "Na'viyä luyu hapxì."_

Eyreal and Ava had emerged from the inner womb of Hometree along with the other hunters and elders, and they moved forward first, laying their hands over Taw'bit's torso. Rey'sik moved in next, followed by all the other members of the Clan until Taw'biht was connected to everyone. I couldn't help thinking about the coming night and the next day, and I kept looking at Ava, wondering what she was thinking now that it was expected for Taw'biht to take a mate. I tried not to worry about it, since I knew the things that had happened after my Dream Hunt wouldn't be happening for several years, but I couldn't hide how I was thinking about it. I probably wouldn't ever be able to hide that.

* * *

Ava sat with me during the evening meal that night, her attention never leaving me or our closeness to each other. Thomas talked about his day with his friends and how they'd found a small nest of _fkio _on the edges of the village, and I tried to figure out how they'd gotten that far away without any of the hunters on the borders seeing them. I wanted to believe his skills as a young hunter were getting better and that the hunters on our borders weren't being lax about keeping the village safe. It made me feel a lot better thinking my son was advancing as opposed to thinking we were in danger.

"Lu'änsyem said we would not be able to find the nest," Thomas said over his own food. "But I was confident. You taught me to be brave. She was taught to be cautious."

I looked at him while I ate. "There's nothing wrong with being cautious," I said softly. "Sometimes being careful is a good thing. Maybe even necessary. Maybe you should allow her to be cautious while you're brave."

He smiled. "I like the sound of that. I will tell her that tomorrow."

I nodded, glancing at Ava to see a curious expression on her face. I leaned closer to her whispering. "What is it?"

"Nothing," she said softly. "I just like listening to you when you're talking to him. You really sound like a dad."

I felt my face heat up slowly, and she laughed softly, bowing her head and continuing to eat her food. I looked around unconsciously, noticing Eyreal as she watched us from across the fire pit and bowing my head away from her gaze. I was suddenly thinking about everything I'd seen and heard the last few days — how she'd been so calm during Neyla's labor and how confident she'd been through Taw'biht's _Uniltaron_. It was strange since even Neytiri had been nervous and uncertain the first time she'd overseen those things. But then I was thinking about what Taw'biht had exclaimed while he'd been hallucinating. I remembered what he'd said and I wondered if he'd been hallucinating at all.

Thomas was ready to turn in almost as soon as he finished eating, and while Mo'at and Eyreal saw to everyone else who was still there, Ava and I walked him up into the upper branches of Hometree where other members of the Clan were also getting ready to sleep. He put away all his belongings, moving out on the mat with one of Ava's reading pads and leaving me in our alcove with my mate. Ava had been braiding most of her hair and her queue over her shoulder the last few days, and I was watching her do that when she suddenly looked up at me.

"What is it?" she asked softly.

I stepped closer to her, lifting my hand to her face. "You look beautiful," I whispered. "Have I ever told you that?"

She blushed even in the low light, gently biting her lower lip. "No."

I leaned closer to her, kissing her as softly as I could and laying my forehead over hers.

"Jake," she whispered after half a minute. "Can I show you something?"

Even though I was curious, I smiled. "Well, of course you can," I assured her.

She took my hands in hers, pulling me out onto the mat and then sitting me down before she sat in front of me while still braiding her hair. Slowly, her queue disappeared within the confines of her thick light-dark brown hair, and she extended her hands to lay her palms over my shoulders.

"Relax," she said softly, then lifting her hands to my face and gently caressing my cheeks lightly. She scooted closer as she sat on her calves, easing her hands around to the back of my head and pulling my own queue over my shoulder. She didn't say anything else after that, lifting the end of her queue and prompting me to do the same until the swaying tendrils entwined gently. Ava didn't have to talk after she told me to relax. She showed me what she wanted me to see.

I could see her as the little girl she'd been when she'd gotten lost in the forest, running through the underbrush in the dark and more scared for her own life than she'd ever been before that point. Every now and then, I could see a flash of green, and I could hear low growls coming from behind. I knew those sounds, and even though Ava was completely calm through our link, I felt my heart speed up slightly. She squeezed my shoulders, trying to keep me calm, and suddenly, the memory changed. It was daylight, and she was moving more slowly.

The growling had been replaced with a soft purring, and when the female _nantang_ eased out of the shadows to be in front of Ava, I could sense more curiosity than aggression. The lean, black canine-like animal stepped closer to Ava, dipping her head down and then nudging her muzzle into Ava's shoulder to smell her. Slowly, the female moved her neural whip to Ava, and gently, Ava moved her own queue in place, making _tsaheylu_ with the animal. The feeling from the female made its way to me through Ava's memory, and I knew instantly that she had her own litter of pups close to where she'd found Ava. I knew she wasn't afraid of Ava and wanted to know what she was. Ava's thoughts were much more complex than I'd expected, and she was able to explain the whole thing to her new friend.

I realized this was how Ava had survived the forest so long, especially with her memories showing me how the mother _nantang_ was able to keep Ava fed and safe when she wasn't fishing or hunting on her own. I couldn't believe Ava had been able to keep this from me all this time, but as her memories progressed and she got older, I could see her barely missing encounters with other Clans who had migrated since the war to be between the base and the Hometree where the Omaticaya had settled. I didn't understand why Ava had wanted to keep this from me, even when I saw the few encounters she'd had with Neytiri. I was apparently the most oblivious idiot ever.

The day I'd found her played out backward, since it was from her point of view instead of mine. And I realized something else more important than any of the memories I'd seen up to that point. I remembered the _nantang_ that had attacked that day, but through Ava's memory, I understood then that they hadn't been attacking us at all. Because of her connection to them and the time she'd spent with them, I saw now how they'd been trying to protect her from me. To them, I'd been the bad guy, and in their eyes, they believed I would have hurt her if they didn't get to her. And by taking her from them, I'd antagonized them further, causing them to follow us to the river while I carried Ava in my arms. And when they'd been snapping at us in the water, it hadn't been to hurt her, but to get her away from me. What I didn't understand was why Ava had saved me from them, especially now that I knew the male in the water had been like a brother to her.

By then, Ava and I were laying over the mat facing each other, and she moved as close to me as she could without getting too close where she wouldn't want to sleep if she moved closer. She laid her hands over my chest, touching her forehead to mine as she whispered.

"I only saw you once, really," she said. "Mama and Aunt Grace were both adamant about keeping me from you until it was too late for them to get me to you so I would be safe. But I think I held onto the image I had of you in my head more than I did anything else. I think it only took me the amount of time it took us to get to the river for me to really remember you. And I made a choice."

I pulled her into my arms until her chest was against mine, pressing the front of my face into hers and grasping onto her hips until I could feel her breathing against me. "But you loved him like he was a part of you. You barely knew me. After what I did — Ava, I'm sorry."

She lifted her fingers to my lips, silencing me. "You never did anything wrong," she told me softly. "You were only doing what you thought was right, and you didn't know."

I moved her hand away, holding it inside mine. "Ignorance is no excuse for making a decision like that. You chose me over him. That must've been so hard for you. Now I know why you had that look on your face when you gave me my bow."

"I don't regret doing that," she swore to me. "Not even when I learned about the war and what happened with Grace. I won't ever regret saving you. So don't be sorry. You have no reason to be. And it can't be changed, so there isn't a reason to wish it were different. We can't look back. Now we need to look forward. For both our sakes."

Through our link, I knew she'd already forgiven me and I knew she'd forgiven herself. And I knew it was time for me to do it too. I'd told Norm once that the decisions we'd made in those weeks leading up to the war and even afterward couldn't be changed, and there was no point in trying to think of how it could've gone differently. And for a while, I'd held to that. After finding Ava, I'd started to doubt every decision I'd made, and I knew I couldn't do that anymore. I knew I couldn't think of what I'd done wrong. I wanted to move on from that. And I wanted to do it with her.

I leaned closer to her, kissing her gently and feeling her tail wrap itself around the side of my leg. I figured I might as well start moving on now.

* * *

There was pain in my dream that night, and it wasn't the kind I'd ever felt before. And when I found myself moving slowly through the underbrush at night, I felt like I'd been there many times before. There was shouting ahead, and I was afraid. I tried to get away, but a pair of strong hands grabbed me and yanked me up from the ground to be confronted with the sneering face of a very familiar hunter.

"_Nìn fi'u,"_ he growled, staring in my eyes like I was the scum of the earth. He glared at me, shoving his knee into my gut and allowing me to fall to the ground.

I was breathless for several seconds, looking around and realizing other hunters were surrounding me. Once I had the ability to breathe again, I grit my teeth, charging at him and taking him down before I made a break for it in the opposite direction. But I didn't get far, tripping through a trap and falling on both hands less than a minute before he came after me again.

"_Rutxe,"_ I whispered, holding my hands out and open in hopes that he wouldn't feel threatened by me. I felt so much smaller than him, and I was so scared of what he would do to me.

He grabbed me again, pulling me up until my feet left the ground and then pulling his knife on me. He pressed the edge of the blade into my throat, grinning maniacally as he spoke again. _"Oe fi trr pey,"_ he snarled.

I realized slowly that it wasn't really me he was talking to. I wasn't sure who he was looking at, but his expression told me it was someone he thought very little of. His words told me it was someone he'd seen before and wanted revenge on for something that hadn't been easily forgotten. Hot, wet blood oozed from a fresh cut on my neck, and the way it stung reminded me of every other knife cut I'd ever gotten. He threw me into the hands of two other hunters who held me tighter than he had while he stepped forward and bound my wrists and ankles. One of the two hunters holding me tossed me over his shoulder a moment before I felt something hard and cold hit me over the back of my head, knocking me out cold.

The next time I opened my eyes, Ava was sitting above me, caressing my face and gazing at me patiently. I realized it was well passed morning, and I knew she'd been waiting for me while everyone else went to the morning meal. I stared up at her, remembering my dream and suddenly feeling afraid for her. I sat up slowly, facing her and lifting my hands to her face before I pull her into my arms to hold her against me. Our connection had since ceased, but I didn't need it to know she needed me to keep her safe. And the first thing I was gonna to do was make sure she always had someone with her whenever she left the village. Even if it couldn't be me.

* * *

The days became weeks, and things did get back to normal — or as normal as they could be with Mo'at still training Eyreal for her new position. I asked Mo'at when she thought her apprentice would be ready to do things on her own, but all she said was things like that took time. I figured she was waiting to see something that would give her the indication she needed that Eyreal was as prepared as she was going to get. So I didn't ask again after that.

Aside from the few obvious duties we had to tend to together, I found myself compelled to help Eyreal with other things around the village. She saw to a lot of couples in the village who needed guidance, and I was astonished at how well-thought to their needs she was. I was actually starting to believe there was a lot more to her than I'd originally thought, and after having known her for over nine months, I was getting used to having her around. And I could tell Thomas liked having her around too. She and Ava were practically like sisters, and it was like we were a family, although I was a little confused about how that dynamic had made itself so obvious. And I was curious as to what roles we'd all taken on for me to feel that way.

The first time after my realization of this that I saw Eyreal, I was helping her look after a small group of children who were a few years younger than Thomas. As the _tsahik_, it would be part of Eyreal's responsibility to teach and guide the children where Eywa was concerned, and their parents were all to eager for the children to spend time with their new spiritual leader-in-training. A few of the girls in the group kind of latched onto me, and I could tell Eyreal liked seeing me with them. It was kind of embarrassing since I didn't have a daughter of my own and had pretty much given up on the idea that I would have one someday — at least until I'd found Ava, and I knew now that it hadn't been because I saw her that way. How we were now as mates was the way it had always been meant to be, and I wasn't ever gonna let that change.

The girls with us that day, which I remembered was the day before we were supposed to go back to the base, were all intensely interested in how I'd come to the clan since they hadn't been born until after I'd been initiated into the clan.

"How did you live in two bodies?" one of the older girls asked me as we all walked along the edge of the nearby river. I remember her name was Io'tìve'ki because of what it meant, and I was surprised her English was so good.

"Well, it wasn't easy," I told her, carrying her on my back and glancing at Eyreal. "And there were days when it wasn't very fun. But I guess I did what I had to."

"Io," Eyreal called. "Please do not bother _olo'eyktan_ with too many questions. We have lessons to attend to today."

The little girl on my back frowned, and I held onto her tighter. "Io, huh? You know, there's a story about a woman with that name the Sky People used to tell."

Her face lit up, and even though I saw Eyreal give me a stern look, I continued, piquing my passenger's interest further.

"She was a beautiful woman who refused a god's advance, and he cursed her so that she would never age. She had to watch her family die while she lived, but she never let it break her. And she helped a demi-god fight against a great evil. And when she was killed, the demi-god's father Zeus brought her back for them to live happily ever after."

"Well, that's a strange story," one of the other girls said. "We have never heard stories like that before. Where did you hear it?"

"Lenomum, please," Eyreal called. "We have long way to walk. You should not be asking questions like this now. Today, we are learning of our ancestors. Not _olo'eyktan's_."

Again, the disappointment on their faces was obvious, and I leaned over to whisper to them without Eyreal hearing me. "Don't worry. We'll talk later."

They both smiled and giggled.

When we got to where we were going to be for the day, Eyreal gathered all the children around her which totaled about ten little ones, and I looked around to make sure we were all safe as one of the smaller girls who I think was about five moved closer to me and reached for me to lift her in my arms. I did so gladly, moving closer to where Eyreal was as she spoke to the children softly in Na'vi.

"_Keep your eyes on me, my children," _she said softly, _"and do not allow your minds to wander. Only when your mouths are closed and your eyes and hearts and ears are open will you begin to understand the true meanings our Great Mother wishes for us to see. Everyone will choose a partner and make _tsaheylu _with the intention of seeing what is meant to be seen. And when your minds are one with each other, you will know how it is meant to be done."_

One of the boys spoke then, giving another boy beside him a wary look. "I thought _tsaheylu_ was only for mates and other animals."

Eyreal smiled, and I knew from memory that she'd bonded with Ava when she'd been a little girl too. "This is true," she nodded. "The bond is meant for mates and when you claim your _ikran_. But it can also be used to make the bond between mother and her child stronger. Brothers and sisters can also make the bond with each other. When you are older you will ride many _pa'li_, not only one. You will make the bond with your _ikran_. This is same thing between family and friends. Only when it is in your heart will you bond with mate for life. Do not fear. We have even number of boys and girls. It will be fair. I promise."

The little girl in my arms turned to me almost immediately, and I caught a glimpse at Eyreal to see a little grin on her face. One of the smaller boys climbed into her lap, and I watched them make _tsaheylu_ before I turned all my attention to the little girl sitting with me. She smiled and giggled, pulling her little queue over her shoulder, and I followed her lead, allowing the swaying tendrils to entwine gently. I'd only ever really bonded with _pa'li_ and my own _ikran_, and well, Neytiri, who'd been my mate, and Ava, who was my mate now. But I knew mothers and siblings sometimes bonded with each other when they were small. I knew Neytiri had probably made _tsaheylu_ with Thomas when he'd been much younger. So it was a little strange to be bonded with a five-year-old girl who was just about as curious as any other little girl her age could be.

Her name was Lor'syulang, which meant beautiful flower, and she had two older brothers, Tsawl'win and Txa'sayrìp, who were extremely protective of her. She loved to swim, and when her mother, Tìme'em, let her go riding with her brothers, she was happiest. Her father, Tìohakx liked to carry her on his shoulders, and she'd spent the first year of her life keeping both her parents very busy in a way her brothers never had. She wanted to be the greatest hunter the Clan has ever seen, and she'd already started practicing with a small bow and arrow even though most of the children in the village didn't start doing that until they were at least nine. She was ambitious for sure.

I saw so many happy memories I forgot that she was only five. I still remembered what I'd done over ten years earlier, and I didn't like passing those memories to her. But it didn't seem to bother her. In fact, the longer we were bonded, the closer she scooted toward me until she was practically on top of me with her head against my chest. I honestly hadn't expected something like this to happen, but it was obvious to me now that it seemed like Eyreal had planned it this way. It was almost like she was telling me not to give up because if I did, I would be giving up the possibility of doing something like this in the future. I didn't know if she had planned it this way — for all she knew, I could've decided not to come with her. But it was clear that she didn't want me to give up, and now that I knew what it felt like to see the innocence in this little girl's mind, I didn't want to give up the possibility that I could have one of my own one day. I liked how that felt.

We ate lunch by the river after I sacrificed my dignity to make an attempt at fishing, and even though I achieved my goal and was able to feed all 12 of us, I still got a few giggles from the peanut gallery while I was standing in the river trying to catch as much as I could so everyone would have enough. It wasn't the most appetizing meal I'd had in the last ten years, but with the company, it made up for the small meal I was afforded so the younger ones could have more. Eyreal even took a smaller portion to share with the boy she bonded with earlier. It was something that reminded me more of what a mother would do than anything I'd seen from her so far.

"How did you learn about Io?" my passenger from earlier asked me while we sat eating. "Did your _sa'nok_ teach you about her?"

I smiled, glancing at her friend from earlier who was also listening. "Actually, I learned about her when I was in school. We had a teacher who taught something we called Greek Mythology. It was actually pretty interesting." I paused remembering something else. "My, um, my brother liked it a lot more than I did though," I admitted softly, feeling a new set of chills ease of my shoulders.

I hadn't thought about Tommy in three months, not since Ava had tamed her _ikran_. I honestly hadn't had the time, but sitting there thinking brought back all these memories of when we'd been kids. It wasn't that I didn't like thinking about him, but whenever I did, it was like a flood. Every bad thing tangled up with every good thing that had ever happened to us, and it was almost always painful to think about how long it had been since I'd seen him. I knew I would always miss him. But I wasn't always prepared to be mad at him. And I realized I was mad at him because of something he'd done because I'd told him to do it.

"You look sad," Lor'syulang said to me, touching my face and bringing me out of my thoughts. "You know he was . . . proud of you. You should . . . forgive yourself."

Hearing a five-year-old little girl say such profound words made me think of how much more innocent she was than I'd been. And I knew I had to stop dwelling on the bad memories so I could hang on to the good ones. I reached out and touched her face, nodding and agreeing silently. I knew she was right.

Though it was completely unintentional, we didn't make it back to village until it was late in the afternoon. Most if not all the children we'd taken with us were all tired from the walking, and they were all eager to have their evening meal with their parents and get to sleep for the next day. My new friend coaxed me into carrying her on my shoulders the way her father always did, and she made a point of wrapping her arms around my head so I couldn't easily pass her off to anyone even if I wanted to.

Her parents met us just outside the main gathering area, and even though I could see she was reluctant to let go of me, her father reached for her and she went to him almost immediately. Now that I was getting a good look at him, I realized he was younger than I was and already had three small children. He actually made me feel like I was shirking my responsibilities as a mate, and it made me want to be with Ava even more than I had before spending the day with his daughter.

"She behaved well, I hope," he said to me, his English almost as good as hers.

"She was very good today," I assured him. "You should be proud of her. She's gonna be a damn good hunter when she's older."

He bowed his head, lifting her in his arms. "Thank you, _olo'eyktan_."

I nodded, urging them on to where everyone else was gathered, and I was about to go on myself when a pair of small pink hands wrapped themselves around my eyes. Ava's lips touched my ear, and she whispered softly.

"Rea told me you made a new friend today," she smiled. "Am I going to get to meet her soon?"

"You can if you want to," I promised her.

She let go, turning me to face her and lifting her hands to my face as she rose to her toes and leaned her face into mine. "If I wish hard enough," she whispered, "can I have one like her?"

I wrapped my arms around her, holding her as close to me as I could and kissing her softly. "I will do everything in my power to make that wish come true," I swore to her.

All she did was giggle softly, nibbling on her lower lip and rubbing the tip of my nose with hers.

* * *

The next morning, after I'd already talked to Norm and after he'd already promised to be on his way before lunch, I made a point of talking to Tu'San about remaining in the village with Mo'at to keep an eye on things since I'd asked Eyreal and Rey'sik to come with me and Ava along with a few other hunters meant to keep an eye on the base for when the shuttle came. I waited until after the morning meal when Ava, Taw'biht and a few other younger hunters were out scouting for a few extra hunting grounds, and when I found Tu'San, he was giving one of his trainee's a little bit of a harsh lecture about the importance of staying focused.

"_You do not keep your senses about you," _he snarled, _"you die. And it is your responsibility to feed the Clan. If you are not up to this task, we will find someone else more worthy of this privilege. Is that understood?"_

The young boy bowed his head, spotting me as I observed and blushing when he realized he'd had an audience to his discipline. Tu'San turned to see me there, staring for only a moment before he looked at the boy. He nodded the young hunter off, huffing loudly and then turning to face me.

"You should not sneak up on me this way," he retorted. "It undermines my authority."

I tilted my head slightly. "Would you not have been so harsh with him had you known I was here? I guess I was wrong about the way you treated Ava when she first got here. It's obvious now that you're like this with everyone. I thought we were passed this. I need to talk to you."

He scoffed abruptly, moving closer to me in a way that made me feel like he was trying to challenge me for something. "And what is it you wish to speak about?" he demanded.

His behavior confused me, but I tried to stay unaffected. "I'm taking Eyreal and Rey'sik to the base when Norm and Lisa get here, along with a few other hunters to make a semi-permanent presence for when the shuttle arrives. I need you to stay here with Mo'at to keep an eye on everything while I'm gone, unless that's too much for you to handle with all your _other_ responsibilities."

He looked at me like I'd insulted him, and my confusion over his behavior intensified. "You speak as though I have not had to perform that task before today," he remarked. "But your forget that I have always remained here while you leave, as any loyal member of the clan should."

I smirked. "Oh, I haven't forgotten. But your attitude right now is telling me you might be taking the task of remaining here for granted. And I need all the men I can trust to keep this place safe. I want to include you in that group, but if I've given you too much to do — "

His expression changed slowly, and even though he still looked like I was being unfair to him, he took in a calming breath, glancing around like he was looking for someone. Then he spoke again. "It will not be too much," he said, honestly sounding like it was taking every ounce of control to say it. "I will remain here to keep the people safe while you are away. I apologize for my behavior. It will not happen again."

I tipped my chin up, and he stepped back. "Good," I said with as much finality as I could before I turned to leave him there. When he didn't say anything back, I made my way back to where a small group of children were gathered. I saw my new little friend among them, and when she saw me, she smiled, leaving the group immediately and making her way to me. It wasn't strange anymore as I lifted her in my arms and then tossed her over my shoulder.

"_Ma_ Jake!" she exclaimed, giggling.

"You were being a trouble maker, weren't you?" I asked, playfully, pulling her into my chest.

"No!" she laughed.

I laughed too, spotting Ava and Taw'biht as they returned with their group of hunters and moving through the village toward them. I also noticed that girl with them too, and I remembered Ava telling me her name was Kalin. I silently wondered about her as I walked, but I didn't get a chance to ask Ava about it. The moment she was close enough, I could see a small cut over her cheek that looked a lot like she'd been nicked by the tip of an arrow. When she saw me, she sighed heavily, dismounting her _pa'li_ and moving to where I was as I set Lor'syulang on the ground.

"What happened?" I asked, lifting my hand to her face and easing the tip of my finger over the fresh cut.

She glanced at Taw'biht and Kalin, but neither of them said anything. "Apparently, I'm unable to leave the village to do even the simplest task," she remarked, her mouth twitching with frustration.

"You were attacked," I concluded, noticing the flicker of acknowledgment in Taw'biht's eyes as he remained near Kalin. "But how? And why are they still doing this?"

"Why did they do it the first time?" Ava argued, her green eyes staring up at me in disbelief, and I was reminded of the first encounter we'd had with these hunters who had obviously targeted her because they didn't understand what she was.

I inhaled deeply, pulling her into my arms and allowing her to lay her forehead over my shoulder. "There has to be a way to avoid this," I said softly.

"We both know the way to do that," she whispered, lifting her hands to hold onto my arms. "And neither one of us is willing to take that kind of precaution. You know what it would mean, Jake. I can't stay there if you can't. I won't."

I leaned back to look at her, lifting my hands to her face. "Who said I couldn't stay there?" I challenged.

"I do," she countered. "You're meant to be here. And I'm meant to be with you. That's the end of it."

"Well, maybe if you weren't pink down the middle," Lor'syulang commented, and I stepped back to see her touching Ava's stomach.

"That's not nice," I chastised, taking her hand and then holding her against me.

"I only meant they might not like her because she isn't blue like they are," she argued. She looked at Ava. "You're very pretty."

Ava smiled, leaning over to look at Lor'syulang. "You're very pretty yourself. Would you maybe like to help us with this little problem when we come back?"

My little friend looked up at me again and smiled, and then she looked at Ava and nodded. Ava extended her hand, and Lor'syulang met her halfway, obviously more familiar with Human gestures through her bond with me.

"It's a date," Ava said, touching Lan's cheek gently.

She looked at me, and I looked her hand in mine, pulling the two of them through the village with Taw'biht and Kalin behind us as the other hunters with them dispersed quietly.

"Norm should be on his way here now," I told Ava as we walked. "We'll get your cut looked at before we get everyone together to meet them. Hopefully, we'll be able to leave before it gets too late, and we'll be on the base tonight."

"Are we carrying their supplies to them when they land?" she asked, and I noticed she was holding Lan's hand.

"We might now that this has happened," I decided.

She sighed softly. "I don't want special treatment, Jake," she pleaded.

"When you stop getting attacked," I told her, "I'll back off. But you need special treatment, and I'm not gonna be shy about it. Just accept that for now, okay?"

Ava exhaled loudly, remaining silent even as Lan spoke up to me.

"When are we going to meet the Sky People's children?" she asked.

I smiled, thinking about the kids on the base who were around her age and still a lot shorter than she was. I reached for her, and she jumped into my hands as I kept walking with Ava at my side. "Do you want to come with me the next time we go to see them?"

Her face lit up. "Can I?"

"You'll have to ask your father, but if he says it's okay, we'll start planning as soon as we get back in a few days. Okay?"

She smiled, nodding and grasping onto my shoulders.

The hunters I'd asked to go to the base with us were already gathering what supplies we could spare, and since Norm had dutifully reported they still had plenty of food and medicine left, we were only taking building materials to make a set of cooking pits and hammocks for the hunters who would be staying behind. Eyreal and Rey'sik were helping, and when they both saw Ava's face, they both became worried. Eyreal approached us first, lifting her fingers to Ava's cheek.

"_Tipani,"_ she said softly, lifting her eyes to mine. I nodded, and she looked at Ava. "We cannot allow this to continue. The next time, it could be worse. Much worse. Are you for certain we cannot make arrangements for you to remain here where you are safe?" she pleaded.

Ava took her hand then, bowing her head. "I'm sure. I can't become a prisoner just for the sake of keeping me protected. I still have to contribute. And I want to be here with Jake. I belong here."

"There are other things you can do to contribute besides hunt," she told Ava, glancing at Rey'sik, but he remained silent, his eyes glued to the cut on Ava's cheek. "You do not need to shoot a bow and arrow to give back to the People."

"I might not need to," Ava agreed. "But it's my place."

"_Olo'eyktan,"_ I heard and turned to see Taw'biht there with Kalin. "I know you did not ask me to go, but if it will help, Kalin and I can accompany you to the Sky People's home. It will keep everyone safe if more people go."

I got the sense he felt kind of responsible for Ava's injury, but now that he was here, I actually needed him to do something else for me. I extended my hand, laying it over his shoulder and glancing at Eyreal and Ava before I pulled him out of the alcove where the packing was being done. "I know you want to help protect Ava," I said to him quietly. "And I'm grateful. But I have something here I need you to do for me. And I don't want you to tell anyone I've asked you to do it."

Taw'biht stood up straight then at the realization that I was giving him something personal to do just for me. "I will do anything you ask of me," he agreed.

"Watch Tu'San," I requested.

He blinked. "Watch him, _olo'eyktan_? For what?"

"Just keep an eye on him. He's acting strange, and I want to make sure it won't cause us trouble for us down the road."

"Which road?" he asked, confused.

I kind of smiled, squeezing his shoulder. "A road neither of us want to go down right now. If you see him do anything or hear him say anything you know feels wrong, I want you to tell me. I know he can be an abrasive guy, but he'd being more so than usual. And I think he'd been this way since Ava and I mated. If he's feeling something like jealousy or vengeance, I want to know about it. And Ava's life might depend on it, so like I said, keep this between you and me. And we should be back in a few days like before."

He glanced around, obviously uncomfortable with what I was asking, but I knew his need to keep Ava safe would win out over being loyal to the man who'd trained him, and after a minute, he bowed his head. "I will do as you ask to the best of my ability. If it means keeping Ava safe, then it will be important above all else."

"I know I can count on you," I assured him, pulling him back to the alcove so we could help with the packing.

* * *

When Norm was within a couple of kilometers from Hometree, he called ahead to tell me, and I sent the hunters with the building materials to the clearing while Ava, Eyreal, Rey'sik and I climbed into the topmost branches to the roost where our _ikrans_ were waiting for us. It had only bee a few weeks since we'd been to the base, but Norm was already saying how they'd changed a few things to make the long-house a little more comfortable for the hunters who would be staying behind. I didn't ask how that was, since I was pretty sure I'd find out when we all got there. I also made a promise with Thomas that he would get to come the next time we went since I knew we would be doing a lot of building and planning that I wanted to keep a low profile on for the time being. Whether I loved my son or not, he had a tendency to gossip like most of the other children his age.

The hunters carrying the materials made it to the clearing just as Norm was coming in for a landing, and while I watched from the air with Ava, Eyreal and Rey'sik, the hunters loaded the materials on the Samson while Alex made a sweep of the area. Norm waved from the ground with Lisa, and even though I was fairly high in the air, I waved back and smiled while still gesturing for them to hurry so we could get back on our way to the base. It was already after noon, and with the supplies, it would take all of us a little while to get back. I didn't want to be out in the open when it got dark, and I was pretty sure Norm didn't want to be in the air when the sun went down. So as soon as everything was on the chopper, they all reboarded and Norm powered the rotors up.

From a distance, I could see the hunters inside the rear hull with Alex and Lisa, and I knew they were all nervous. I was pretty sure none of them had been inside a Sky People flying machine before, but I'd told them all what to expect. I watched from several dozen meters away to keep Zawng happy, and I spotted Eyreal on the other side of the Samson doing the same thing. The ride was going to be long, and I didn't want to make anyone anymore uncomfortable than this was already going to be.

The base was almost completely dark when we landed on the south lawn, and even though I knew most of our work could be done in the morning, I made a point of telling the hunters who were staying to unpack everything they would need for the cooking pits so we could at least all eat before we settled in for the night. Mitch, David and Helen were all ready to help with whatever they could, and when I asked about Max, Helen spoke up.

"He's in the lab, finishing up a couple of diagnostics," she said simply, and even if that was all it took to pique my curiosity, I left it at that until at least first light.

I figured the kids were all in bed, and even though I knew they had a night-shift in the lab, I'd actually had a long day, so I was ready for it to end. I was ready to start our work on the base for when the shuttle came. Ava showed the hunters, Eyreal and Rey'sik to the long-house while I helped Norm and Lisa get all the rest of the building materials off the Samson, and once that was done, I sent them inside so I could join my clanmates. Then I saw the inside of the long-house.

Instead of the twenty beds there had been three weeks earlier, half of the beds had now been replaced with hammocks that looked a lot like the ones in Hometree. The closer I looked, the more I realized the hammocks looked exactly like the ones in Hometree. The few hunters I'd brought with me had already climbed into their own selected hammocks, and Eyreal and Rey'sik were choosing theirs when I stepped inside alone. Ava saw me and moved closer to where I'd stopped.

"Isn't it amazing?" she whispered taking my hand in hers. "I wasn't expecting this at all."

I looked around the room, grinning even though I didn't move further into the room. "Neither was I. I was actually looking forward to sleeping in one of the cots," I whispered, easing my other hand around the back of her waist and then pulling her closer to me.

She draped her arm around my shoulders and getting up on her toes to lean her forehead and nose into mine. "Well, we don't _have_ to sleep in one of the hammocks," she informed me with a smile. "We can sleep wherever we want to."

I glanced around the room, noticing how Eyreal and Rey'sik were hesitating in settling in to their own hammocks as Ava and I stood just out of their earshot. "Well, there is a hammock in the habitat out back," I reminded her.

She laughed softly, leaning closer and kissing me gently. I pulled her closer, kissing her more deeply and lifting my hand to the back of her head. Slowly, I pulled her through the long-house to the habitat in the back, glancing over my shoulder one last time at Eyreal before I stepped into the habitat with Ava where I hoped we would get a little bit of privacy despite having brought a bit of an entourage with us to the base.

There was an avatar/Na'vi sized shower in the habitat, which confused me since I remembered that Amelia had lived back here. But when Ava pulled me up into the shower, all my confusion disappeared the moment she began to bathe me. I no longer cared about why this was back here. I knew I was immediately gonna like this particular visit to the base if we were going to be staying back here together while we were here. And I was suddenly grateful the habitat was revealed to be soundproof. The very instant Ava pressed the front of her body to mine and prompted me to follow her lead, I knew I wasn't gonna be able to control my voice.

She started by lathering her hands and then easing her palms over my shoulders and then down my arms. Chills eased down my back, settling into my tail as she turned me to face the shower head, and even though I kept glancing over my shoulder at her, she played nice, staying away from the base of my tail even as she rubbed the soap into my back and then made her way down both my legs. I made a conscious effort to keep my tail out of her way, waiting until she was facing me again to let it do whatever it wanted, and she spread soap over my chest, tracing the lines of my stripes as they intersected with the _tanhì_ covering my skin. She paid special attention to my stomach, splaying her hands over my lower abdomen without going any further.

She passed the soap to me, and even though I didn't want to step over any lines, I couldn't resist taking the invitation. She pulled her wet hair over her shoulder, giving me as much access to her body as she always had and allowing me to lather her skin. It had been a little while since we'd done this together, and it was a rare occasion for me to actually get a good look at the colors on her skin. While most of my skin was blue and striped, the places where her stripes crossed the span of her back, her skin was as pink as ever and completely smooth. All the avatars and Na'vi had perfectly smooth skin, without any hair except their hair and a tuft of hair at the end of their tails. I had eyebrows, like Thomas, and Ava's were lighter than mine. I was actually usually surprised with how soft Ava's skin was since Human skin was sometimes known to be rough.

Ava got chills as my hands passed over her lower back, and she laughed softly, lifting her hands to the back of my head and pulling me closer to her until my chest was against her back. Slowly, I eased my hands around to the front of her body, rubbing my palms over her stomach and then up her chest until I could wrap my hands over her shoulders. She grasped onto the back of my neck, near the nerve endings of my queue, and a new set of chills settled into my lower back. The world only included the two of us in that moment, and I was completely focused on her, turning her to face me and then lifting her in my arms so that our faces were level. I kissed her as gently and deeply as I could, holding onto her tightly.

The water was very warm, bordering hot, and the shower almost immediately filled with steam, making the urgency of our mating even more prominent. Her skin was even smoother now than it had been since the last time we'd really touched. I was reminded that it had actually been a few days since we'd mated while bonding, and with her body practically screaming my name as I grasped onto her bottom to hold her closer to me, I had hopes there was a good reason for her receptiveness. But when we bonded, all I could really feel was her. I knew from experience that even the earliest signs of pregnancy could be felt through the link, but even as our bodies became connected, I only heard her thoughts. I only felt her feelings. I was already too involved in the whole act to stop, and it was obvious she was too. I wasn't going to let something like this affect our mating. Not when I knew there was still a chance.

After the shower, I laid in the hammock first, allowing her to climb in then and lay almost on top of me. I rubbed the length of her back from the base of her neck to where her tail was already coiling itself around the side of my body. I hitched her leg up over my side, pulling her closer until the length of her torso was flush against mine, and she gasped softly against my parted lips, grasping onto my arms with the entire length of hers. I was thankful we didn't have to worry about any members of the clan seeing or hearing us, and I knew Ava was too, especially when she eased the tips of her fingers down my spine and then wrapped her hand around the base of my tail. The mere motion of her doing that was enough push me over the edge, and she was only too willing to take it the next level. I'd discovered a long time ago that Ava usually gave as good as she got, and where the two of us together was concerned, I knew she was always gonna be that way.

It was late before either of us spoke again, lying in the hammock as the soft light of Polyphemus shined through the small cracks in the ceiling of the habitat. I'm not sure what prompted me to think it, but when I spoke, Ava didn't even flinch.

"What was Taw'biht hanging around Kalin for earlier?" I whispered, absently caressing the small of her back as she laid against my chest.

Ava actually laughed softly. "You noticed that huh?"

"I did," I admitted. "And I'm guessing based on your reaction that you're somewhat responsible for that."

She leaned back to look at me, and I lowered my eyes to hers. "You could say that," she revealed.

I grinned, squeezing her hip. "Why, you little matchmaker, you," I teased, watching her grin and then giggle as she bit her lower lip. I shook my head. "But how? And when?"

"What can I say?" she smiled. "I'm kind of multi-talented. Rea couldn't even believe how I'd been able to manage it."

"Eyreal knew you did this, and neither of you told me?" I asked, not meaning to sound upset but watching her smile fade slightly. "I mean, I don't mean it like that. Why would you tell me?" I amended, trying to smooth over the small misunderstanding. "But I'm curious. I see the way he still looks at you. How did you even manage to do it?"

"Do you promise to keep it to yourself?" she asked softly, reaching up for one of my ears and tugging slightly.

"Of course I do," I swore.

She giggled again, still biting her lower lip. "Then maybe I'll tell you one day," she teased.

Though I was still curious, I could see she was tired, so I decided not to push it any further. I was sure we'd talk more in the morning while we were building, and I knew the kids on the base were going to be excited to see us. So I knew I needed my rest too. Without much else to talk about, I relaxed as I held Ava in my arms, falling asleep and hoping I was blessed with a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Even after three weeks, things on the base had changed, and Norm made a point of making sure the only thing I worried about was looking at the scans from the satellite concerning the shuttle still on its way to Pandora. It was strange that he was so determined to keep me from noticing that Max didn't come outside at all, but when I asked Helen what her children's father was up to, she always said the same thing that she'd said that night. I got a feeling from them that something was either wrong or not exactly going the way they'd intended, and I wanted them to know I could help, but if I didn't know what the problem was, there was no way I'd be able to do anything. Even Lisa didn't know exactly what was going on, and that made me think only the three of them knew what was really going on.

Their kids were oblivious, even more so with me there, and the morning after I got there, Josh and Connor were all ready for a rematch of football. Even though I tried to explain to them that I couldn't exactly play without Thomas, they were both pretty adamant about spending every minute with me they possibly could. Even though they were both less than half the size of a child their age in the village, I could see they wanted to do whatever I did, and I didn't want them to get hurt, so I made a deal with them that I would let them help us make the shelters for the hunters who were staying instead of letting them try to beat me at football. That way, I could actually keep an eye on them while they helped me do something productive. I could tell their parents were a little relieved about that, at least until Josh asked if I could show him how to hunt.

I tried to explain to him that it wouldn't be easy and he probably wouldn't be able to do everything I'd had to do — especially with his exopack getting in the way, but he didn't care. Mitch was hesitant since he knew it wouldn't be safe for his son to be surrounded by hunters who were more than twice his size, but JoAnna surprised me by coaxing Mitch into agreeing that it would be okay as long as it was just when I was on the base. I think she seemed to realize how determined Josh was to be around me after how he'd reacted to me leaving the last time, and I knew she didn't want that to happen again. I could understand how she felt about not wanting Josh to feel like his choices didn't matter, and I promised to keep Josh as safe as I could under the circumstances. I even asked Rey'sik to help since he'd spent even less time around people on the base than Eyreal.

The girls were a little easier to please, since Eyreal was the most interested in spending time with them and Ava. After meeting Lisa, I could see Eyreal's opinion of the people on the base changing, and I was sure she would make a good _tsahik_ when Mo'at decided it was time for her to take her place. I remembered what I'd promised to Lan before leaving the village, and I hoped her father would let her come to the base the next time we came so she could see Elizabeth and Cecilia. Those two were a handful, and I was a witness to that whenever they wandered over to where I was helping the hunters make their shelters. Most of the people in the village had only ever really seen Norm, and it was probably strange for them to see Human children. But none of the hunters there seemed to have a problem with the girls. In fact, it looked like whenever the girls had a question, they tried to answer as best as they could in English. It was something I really liked watching.

"You're really good with kids," Lisa said to me at the end of our third day on the base when we were finished with the shelters and were getting ready to go back the next morning.

"Am I?" I asked with a smile, putting the finishing touches on a small bracelet I'd promised Elizabeth even though I think she'd asked me to make it since she knew I had no artistic ability whatsoever. "I couldn't have guessed by the way all these little rugrats keep hangin' onto me like I'm goin' outta style."

"You're unique around here," she admitted. "But I really think Elizabeth and Josh love you. You treat them like adults. That's probably the only reason why Jo let you teach him to use that bow."

I shrugged. "Well, he's actually pretty good with it," I revealed. "He really wants to learn, and that helps. I'm gonna like showing him how to use it right. Like I showed Thomas. Why didn't you have any kids?" I asked bluntly, unaware of why I wanted to know. "Surely someone on the science team has to have caught your eye."

She blushed even in the low light, biting her lower lip and then looking out across the courtyard as the airlock opened. I turned my attention away from the bracelet to see Norm coming out into the yard, and when I looked back at Lisa, I could see a small smile on her face. Before Norm could make it to where we were, I leaned over and whispered to her.

"You know I don't think he'd mind," I said. "You are kinda pretty. And you're smart too."

"I'm 46 years old," she informed me.

"I'm technically only 27, in the body anyway. Do you feel that old?"

Norm was within earshot then, speaking as he made it to the two of us. "Jake, please tell me that's not for you," he laughed, and I looked at the bracelet.

So far, it was already as many colored beads as I could find, and it was about as intricate as a strand of bowstring, but it didn't look that bad. "It's for Liz," I told him, continuing slowly as he spoke a little more seriously.

"Diagnostics on the satellite are almost done," he said formally. "We'll have a new download in the morning. Max said we should have a better scan of the shuttle before 0800 hours."

"Is there a reason why Max couldn't come out here with you to tell me?" I inquired, trying to make him tell me what the two of them had been doing the last three days.

"He's busy, Jake," Norm stated blankly. "And he's working in the stasis part of the lab with the avatars, so he needs to keep all his attention there."

"I thought everything was okay in the lab," Lisa said, prompting me to look at her and then Norm. He inhaled deeply, looking like he wanted to tell her what he was hiding more than he wanted to tell me, and that struck me as a little odd. I silently wondered what he was keeping secret that would be more important to her than me, but I didn't say anything, watching Ava and Elizabeth coming closer to the long-house with Eyreal and the other girls in tow.

"Everything's fine," Norm told Lisa. "Don't worry, okay?"

"Worry about what?" Ava asked, and Norm turned to look at her.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "But we probably need to get the kids inside. Tomorrow's going to be a big day."

Eyreal pulled Keira and Marie forward while carrying Fiona in a baby carrier, and I was a little surprised to see her holding a Human toddler so close to her chest. I was immediately struck with the image of her doing that with a child of her own, and I wasn't sure why I thought it when I did. She looked more than happy to carry Fiona around, and it looked like the girls had enjoyed spending time with her. I was going to ask her about it when Keira pounced on me from the bottom step of the stairs, and I barely caught her without losing a hand on the bracelet I was making.

"Easy there, tiger," I said softly, holding her against me as she spoke.

"I don't want you to go," she told me.

I made her look at me, glancing at Ava and then Lisa before I said anything. "I know," I nodded. "And that's okay. Because I'll be back. And whenever you want to talk to me, I'm just a comm link away, okay?"

She nodded, accepting what I said to her. "Okay."

"All right, girls," Lisa said, rising slowly. "It's time to get inside. It's late, and tomorrow's going to be hectic enough as it is without you charmer's complaining about being tired."

All the girls groaned softly, but they complied, gathering into a small circle as Elizabeth stepped in front of me to look at my handiwork. She giggled, picking up the bracelet with both her hands and then looking at me with curious blue eyes. "You do realize this is too big for me to wear right now," she informed me.

"No, it's not," I argued, taking the bracelet and beginning to wrap it around her wrist. Upon being able to make several loops around her tiny arm, I saw that she was right, but I didn't admit it, simply tying off the end as it stretched up half her forearm. "There. See. That's what it's supposed to look like. Now, get to bed. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

She moved forward then, wrapping her arms around me as far as she could, and I did that same, able to squeeze her against me easily for half a minute before I leaned back and then nudged her on to the others.

I waved, watching Lisa guide them all inside, and I noticed her glance over her shoulder at me and Norm. All I did was nod, hoping she remembered what I'd told her, and once she was far enough away, I turned my attention to Norm. "I need to talk to you," I told him. "Now."

I saw the tiny grin on his face fade quickly, and I looked at Ava and Eyreal before I stood up from the steps and led Norm away from the long-house. Whatever he was keeping from me, I was gonna figure out a way to get him to tell me. And I had to make sure he understood how important it was for me to know as much as he did. Surely, he had to know it was the only way I was gonna keep everybody safe when the shuttle came.

Despite it being almost dark, the courtyard was still pretty well lit, and not just from the presence of Polyphemus overhead. Littered along the fence and the outside of the compound, halogen lights illuminated a fairly large amount of the yard, and I tried not to walk too far off from them before I stopped and turned to Norm. I didn't bother kneeling down so he wouldn't have to look up at me. I wanted him to feel uncomfortable, because I wasn't very thrilled with the way he was acting. Whether he believed it or not, I needed to know everything going on around here, and it didn't matter if he thought it wasn't important. It was my job to decide what was important, not his.

"Listen," I said as soon as I stopped and turned to face him. "I know you think you're protecting me by keeping this thing from me I know you are, but unless I know everything goin' on around here, I can't keep you guys safe. And I think you already know I don't want anything to happen to any of you."

I watched the expression on his face change from confused to scared in the span of a few seconds, and even as he spoke, I knew he was lying. "I'm not keeping anything from you, Jake," he insisted. "Why would I do that?"

"Because of Ava," I pressed. "Because of the fact that I'm finally moving on, and you're afraid whatever it is you're hiding will change that. I thought you had more faith in me than that."

He exhaled heavily, folding his arms over his chest. "I told you before, I thought it was important, but it isn't. Not really, and I wouldn't keep it from you if I knew it would affect your healing process. But I'm not keeping it from you because it won't put any of us in danger. It's just better that you don't know. It's better for Ava and you both to focus on each other." He inhaled deeply, softening his expression. "And I know you don't want anything to happen to us, but I promise this isn't going to affect our safety. It's just something we're having to handle. That's all. Really."

"But I know you're hiding it," I persisted. "And if it's about Ava, then I really do need to know. I don't like keeping things from her, and I don't like you keeping things from me. Is it about the shuttle? Because I know her mother was part of an experiment to make her. Is that what you're keeping from me? If that's what it is, then you need to tell me. Don't keep me in the dark about something that could put her in danger. Please."

I'm not sure what I said that made him change his mind, but the scared expression of his face changed to dread quickly, and he dropped his arms. "Jake, please. I don't want you to worry about it. Max and me, we're handling it. And it's not about Ava. Or the shuttle. It's about the avatars."

I straightened up immediately. "All the reports on their pods said everything was okay," I remembered. "What could possibly go wrong in three days?"

"I didn't say it was wrong," he corrected. "We're just having to monitor them a lot more closely now. A lot of them have been in stasis a long time, and it's going to be strange for their drivers to get back into them after so long. It'd be different if we had the power to get them out once in a while, but we don't. I hate to admit it, but the only way we're gonna get to use them again is when the shuttle gets here. I'm sure they'll bring power cells with them to the base in case they need it. It's what they did when they brought us here."

"Surely, the link beds won't draw so much power that you can't use one of them at least once every day," I suggested. "I mean I know the whole room uses too much of your reserves, but just one?"

"Well, it's not just one link bed, Jake," he explained. "Even if we wanted to use just one, we'd still have to bring up the controls and all the gauges to make sure everything was going smooth, and then we'd have to use the recycled power cells for the monitoring equipment in the Ambient Room. Believe me when I tell you that me and Max have looked at everything. It's just not possible right now."

I knelt to the ground then, so I could look straight into his face. "Are you sure that's all you're keeping from me? You're having trouble keeping the avatars healthy? That's all?"

He scoffed softly. "That's all that comes to mind at this moment. And I didn't want to tell you because I knew you'd want to do something to help. But there isn't anything you can do right now. You need to focus on Ava, and we're handling it for now. If it gets worse, I promise I'll tell you. Just leave it like that for now."

I tried to read into his expression, since I still felt like he was keeping something else from me, but he looked sincere about the avatars, and I was already kind of tired from being outside all day. "And you'd tell me if it was something about Ava," I stipulated, attempting to harden my expression for the first time since I'd first brought Ava to the base over nine months earlier.

"Of course I would," he swore. "I'd never keep anything about her well-being from you. You can trust me, Jake. If things are even looking like they might be moving in that direction, you'll be the first to know."

I inhaled deeply, rising slowly to tower over him. "All right. I'm gonna trust that you're telling me everything, but if I find out you've kept something from me, I can't say what it'll cost down the road from now. So for all our sakes, I hope that's all of it."

He kind of paled when I said that, and even though I knew it scared him because of what was still happening to Ava, I let him go back to the lab while I moved to the entrance of the long-house where Ava was waiting with Eyreal.

"We don't have to go tomorrow," Ava said to me, reaching for my hand and stepping closer to me. "I'm sure Mo'at would understand if you wanted to stay a couple more days to make sure everything was all right here."

I pulled her into my arm, allowing my hand to ease down her side to her waist. "I know," I agreed softly. "But he's not gonna tell me until he thinks I can't handle it. I wish he'd just trust me, but I can't make him tell me when he thinks it'll make things worse. So we'll just go tomorrow and then stay on schedule. Besides," I smiled, leaning down and laying my forehead over hers, "I want to get home. The sooner we do that, the sooner we can focus on us again."

She blushed, lifting her hands to my face and grinning before she stepped back still holding my hands. She pulled me up the steps, passed Eyreal and into the long-house as the other hunters were getting ready to turn in for the night. I glanced behind me at Eyreal one last time before I followed Ava into the habitat where we'd been staying for the last three nights. I tried not to think about what Norm could still be hiding. He was right when he said I needed to focus on Ava, especially now, but it bothered me that he honestly believed I wouldn't be able to handle whatever it was he was keeping from me. After everything we'd been through, I thought he'd be able to trust me more than that.

* * *

**Do we know yet what Norm is hiding from Jake? What could be so big that he'd feel the need to keep from telling the one person who might need to know it? Only time will tell. And hopefully, dare I say it now, it won't take as long for me to write the next chapter.**

**We've got a lot of definitions to get out of the way, so here goes!**

**_Uniltaron - _Dream Hunt**

**_Ikran - _mountain banshee**

**_eltungawng -_ brain worm**

**_Tspang - _Kill**

**_Ayfo poe tisraw seyki. - _They hurt her.**

**_Awnga ayfo zene tspang! - _We must kill them!**

**_Oe tsunke - _I cannot**

**_nantang - _viperwolf**

**_Jake tells Taw'biht what Eytukan told him in Avatar after the ceremony where Jake went through his own dream hunt. "You are now a son of the Omaticaya. You are a part of the People."_**

**_Fkio - _tetrapterons (small-winged birds seen at the beginning of the movie)**

**_Lu'änsyem_ - Be complete (child's name)**

_**Nìn fi'u**_** - Look at this**

**_Rutxe - _Please**

_**Oe fi trr pey**_ **- I wait for this day.**

_**tsahìk**_ - **Interpreter for Eywa; Matriarch**

_**Io'tìve'ki**_ **- Above Hatred (child's name)**

**_olo'eyktan - _clan leader (for anyone who's just coming to the game, this is Jake)**

**_Lenomum - _curious (child's name)**

**_tsaheylu - _The Bond between Na'vi and other animals of Pandora**

**_pa'li - _Horses the size of elephants**

**_Lor'syulang - _Beautiful Flower (child's name)  
**

**_Tsawl'win - _Tall, fast (child's name)**

_**Txa'sayrìp**_** - Hard, handsome (child's name)**

_**Tìme'em**_ **- Harmony**

_**Tìohakx**_ **- Hunger**

**_sa'nok - _mother**

**_Tipani - _Clan name**

_**tanhì**_ **- star, bioluminescent spot**

**

* * *

**

**Whew! That's a lot of definitions! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know I did. And I'm hoping to start on the next one soon.**

**Until next time, Keep Calm & Carry on! And pray that I get over my cold soon, because I could really use a clearer head when I'm doing this. The last thing I need to confuse people anymore than I already have.  
**


	28. Betrayal

**I live! And thank God I do, because I thought I would never get this chapter out before a month went by, but alas, here it is! And I've been writing and editing like a fiend to get this ready for you. I wanted everything to be just right for everyone, and I think I went through it twice before deciding it was ready to post. Only the best for my lovelies!**

**We've got A LOT going on in this chapter, and it is rather long, but I thought that would make up for it taking me so long to get it out to you all. Pay close attention, kiddies, and if you have any questions, you know where I am!**

**There's also a little bit of violence and a lot of arguing and misunderstanding going on in this chapter, so for all you younger readers, you've been forewarned, for the violence is a bit graphic and kinda bloody.**

**Now, on with the chapter!**

* * *

_**Betrayal**_

By the next morning, I was convinced of two things — for the time being anyway. I was sure now that Norm was keeping something even more dire than the health of the avatars from me. I'd never really experienced something like this before, but I was positive of it. And it was clear that he wasn't going to tell me until he was sure I wouldn't freak out about it. I couldn't just forget it, but I tried not to dwell on it, especially since he believed there wasn't anything I could do to help with whatever it was. I knew Ava could see how much it was bothering me, but after what she'd said the night before, she didn't bring it up after we all woke and began making breakfast.

The hunters we were leaving behind had slept in their shelters the night before, leaving the inside of the long-house vacant except for Eyreal and Rey'sik. Even though the hammocks they'd occupied were now empty, I still liked the fact that Norm had thought enough to build them. I wondered if he'd done it to make up for the fact that he was keeping this thing from me, but it wasn't important why he'd built them. It was a nice gesture, since I knew it had to have taken him and Lisa a long time to get them all made and then hung. I decided I needed to talk to him about Lisa, even if I wasn't really sure what I was going to say.

It was cloudy and a little cool that morning, threatening to rain after the new shelters had been put up, but the hunters pulled a canopy over the newly dug firepits before any rain could fall, allowing us all to eat without getting wet. I wasn't really hungry, still thinking about the task I'd given Taw'biht and wondering what had come of it so far. I still didn't know why Tu'San was acting so strange, aside from the fact that I was sure it had something to do with me and Ava, and I knew I didn't want some avoidable thing to happen in the near future because of his attitude problem. I hoped Taw'biht was doing what I'd asked and keeping it to himself, but given his reluctance, I was kinda worried.

"Your wrinkles are going to get wrinkles if you don't quit worrying so much," Ava teased, though she sounded more serious than I'd heard her sound in a while. "What could possibly be bothering you now?"

I unfurrowed my brow, glancing at her as I nibbled on the food in my hands. "It's nothing," I promised, even though I knew that wasn't true. "I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to all these kids, and I know it's gonna be a while before we come back. That's all."

She touched my cheek, making me look at her. "Well, you love these kids. As much as you love Thomas and the kids in the village. It's normal for you to feel bad about leaving them. But we _are_ coming back. And Norm said they're monitoring everything here, so if something goes wrong, he'll call you. You know that, don't you?"

I bowed my head, glancing at Eyreal to see her watching us. "I know," I said softly, turning my head in Ava's direction.

Breakfast was short-lived, and we were packing for the trip home before it stopped raining. I had remembered all my little gifts for the kids which were all stowed in my pouch waiting for the right time to hand them over, and when Norm and Helen came out of the airlock with the kids behind them in single file, the first thing I noticed was that Max and Lisa weren't with them. It was strange since Lisa had been spending most, if not all of her time outside anyway, and when Norm saw me looking for her, he spoke up softly.

"Lisa's helping Max in the lab, but she said to say 'bye.'"

"She's not gonna make it out here at all?" I asked, unable to hide the disappointment in my voice.

"She wanted to be, but Max needs her. Don't worry, Jake. Everything's fine. So, you guys all ready to go?" he asked, glancing at Ava and Eyreal as they came closer to Rey'sik carrying the few packs we were taking back with us.

"We're as ready as we're gonna get," I confirmed, reaching for my pack and opening it slowly as I knelt to the wet grass. "Now you guys didn't really think I was gonna forget any of you, did you?" I grinned, pulling out the small things I'd brought with me for them. I gestured for the smaller ones first, watching Joseph, Marie and Keira come closer to me as I held out the small beaded bracelets that had been made for them. Joseph was a little wary of wearing a 'girl thing,' but after I showed him mine, he held out his arm so I could wrap the bracelet around his upper arm where mine was.

He smiled, moving forward and putting his little arms around me for a long few seconds before he ran back to where Helen was holding Fiona. Marie happily took her gift, appraising it with scrutinizing four-year-old eyes and muttering a tiny 'thank you' before she also gave me an embrace with as much of her arms as she could despite her size. She was warming up to me the same way Keira, Cecilia and Elizabeth had, and I knew I was going to look forward to seeing her grow up. And when Keira stepped in front of me, I smiled, having saved the best bracelet just for her. I'd specifically asked the weaver in the village for the right colors and design, since I was sure what Keira liked, and when she smiled widely, I happily latched the blue and gold bracelet on her left arm. It was long enough to wrap around her wrist a few times, and as soon as it was on, she looked at it, admiring it silently. She moved forward then, kissing my cheek and giving me the tightest hug I'd had in a while.

Connor, Cecilia and Douglas had been a little more difficult to please, but when I'd asked the weaver what would be appropriate, she'd promptly suggested a necklace for Cecilia and ceremonial collars for Connor and Douglas since it was clear we couldn't call them necklaces at that point. They all wore their gifts with pride, giving me an embrace each before I was faced with Josh and Elizabeth. I'd already given each of them enough on this trip to remember me so that I didn't need to give them anything. But I nodded back to one of the hunters staying behind, and he came forward with a bow especially sized just for Josh. The ten-year-old boy couldn't hide his smile as the hunter handed him the bow, and I retrieved small arrows from my pouch made with blue and green accents.

"These are for you," I said to him softly, watching him pull an arrow into his bow gently. "And I want you to keep practicing while I'm gone. When I get back in a few weeks, we'll see how much you've learned. Okay?"

He nodded, releasing the arrow and sliding into the quiver on the bow. "I will," he promised.

He strapped on the bow with more honor and dignity than I thought a kid his age was capable of, and he stepped back leaving Elizabeth in front of me. She grinned, keeping her hands clasped in front of her as she still wore her bracelet I'd given her the night before.

"You don't have to give me anything else," she informed me. "Just as long as you come back. Having you around keeps my mom and dad on their toes."

"Well," I chuckled. "Thank you. I think. But still. I didn't know you were going to ask me to make that for you," I gestured to her bracelet, "so I did bring you something."

When she saw the necklace I'd brought her, her blue eyes lit up immediately, and I moved forward to latch it around her neck. It was just the right size, fitting her like throat mike I still sometimes wore when I was away from the village. She lifted her fingers to it, touching it gently and then glancing back to look at Cecilia.

"You will come back, won't you?" she asked, turning back to me.

"Of course I will," I assured her. "How could I not when we got so much to do now? But if you need to talk me in the meantime, I'm just a comm link away. You and Keira can take turns. Okay?"

She nodded, and Helen stepped closer to me with Fiona in her arms. Instead of letting her walk to me, Helen leaned closer to me, allowing me to kiss Fiona's cheek and then hers before I rose to my feet to stand beside Ava and Eyreal again.

"Try not to let this place go too far off without me," I said to Norm. He kinda laughed.

"Don't worry, Jake. We'll all be fine. You just get back home and keep an eye on things there, all right?"

"That's a promise I have no problem keeping," I assured him.

I pulled Ava off toward where our _ikrans_ were waiting for us, and Eyreal and Rey'sik followed us silently. Norm kind of followed us, and I glanced back every now and then, wishing Lisa had been able to come outside. I was mounted on Zawng's back before Norm spoke again, a little more softly than he had before.

"Be careful, Jake," he pleaded.

I nodded to Eyreal and Rey'sik, prompting them to take off, and Ava followed them as I spoke to Norm. "I'll call you when we get there, okay?"

He nodded, accepting my terms and then stepping back as I urged my ride into the air instantly. I was away from the base within minutes, catching up to Ava and the others easily and catching her eye even though she didn't say anything to me. I decided we'd talk about it when we got back to Hometree.

* * *

As soon as I saw the canopy of Hometree in the distance a few hours after leaving the base, the only thing I was thinking about was talking to Taw'biht over what he'd seen or heard while I'd been gone. After the way Tu'San had acted before I'd left, I was curious as to how he'd acted in my absence, and I was hoping my extra pair of eyes and ears could give me a little bit of insight on my suspicions. I was more than happy to see home before I even saw the people on the ground going about their daily lives, and I couldn't wait to find out how Thomas had spent his time with his grandmother since it was rare for me to leave him behind whenever I went somewhere. Surely, nothing major had happened while I'd been away from the village.

Eyreal and Rey'sik left the topmost branches as soon as they dismounted from their _ikrans_, and I got about halfway down the tree with Ava before Taw'biht found us. I sent her on to find Thomas and Mo'at, pausing at an alcove and stepping inside the small enclosure with him so no one would be able to hear us talking. He looked nervous, glancing over his shoulder even after we were alone, and I tried to assure him it was okay, but it didn't seem to help.

"I do what you ask of me," he reported softly. "I watch Tu'San as you request. Not easy task."

"I figured it wouldn't be," I revealed. "But if you're talking to me now then you were able to do it without him knowing, I take it?"

He bowed his head. "Yes. He thinks I was assisting with normal village activities. He did not think much else of my presence."

"And what did you see?" I asked, thinking it was very possible Tu'San's poor attitude had persisted while I was gone and his coarse behavior had only gotten worse the longer he knew Ava and I were away from his jealous demeanor.

"Nothing," Taw'biht said, instead of the answer I'd been expecting.

To be sure, I leaned in closer and spoke more softly. "Say that again," I pressed, attempting not to glare and failing.

Fear filled Taw'biht's already scared gold eyes, and I tried to soften my expression.

"Sorry," I whispered. "But he didn't do anything out of the ordinary while I was gone?"

Taw'biht shook his head. "Not that I see. He train hunters away from village and help scout for new hunting grounds. Two younger hunters become lost in forest away from village, and he gather older hunters to find those who were lost before night could fall. He advise small group of children to make toy _ikran_. But I never see him lose temper. And I never hear him speak poorly of _olo'eyktan_ or Ava. I stay with him many hours, but he never say bad things about you."

I inhaled then, folding my arms over my chest as this new information processed. I wasn't sure how to think of it, and I couldn't be positive Tu'San's attitude had improved over the last few days. The fact that he'd been the model villager in my absence sent up a few red flags since it could mean any number of things that Taw'biht wasn't trained to see. I honestly didn't see this as a good thing or a bad thing, but I knew I was gonna have to observe Tu'San myself. The only thing that mattered to me was Ava's safety, and it was clear now that I was the only one capable of keeping her unharmed.

"Jakesully," Taw'biht said softly, and I looked at him, surprised he'd actually used my given name. "Do you still wish for me to watch him?"

I thought about it another few minutes, wondering if I needed to tell Ava and deciding against it even as I laid my hand over Taw'biht shoulder. "No, it's okay. You've done what I asked, and I don't need you to do it anymore. So try not to worry about it anymore. All right?"

"I am here if you need me," he said bowing his head again and then backing away to leave the alcove silently.

I stood inside the alcove alone for a few more minutes thinking of the best way to proceed before I stepped back out into the daylight and made my way to the ground where Ava and Thomas were already bringing each other up to speed on their separate journeys. It was late enough in the day that I was sure no one else would be leaving the village for any reason, so I resolved to wait until morning to start my own personal reconnaissance when I knew Tu'San would be taking another group of hunters out to do his scouting exercises. I didn't know what had caused his attitude to change, but I was sure it had nothing to do with me or Ava. I wouldn't be sure until I observed him myself, but I would be sure before I let him go anywhere alone with Ava again.

Ava saw me as soon as I was close to her, and she smiled before her face turned curious. I sat next to her while Thomas got up to find a group of his friends, and she took my hand in hers. "Are you okay?" she asked softly. "You look like you've been told the worst news of your life."

I squeezed her hand, lifting my other hand to her cheek and kissing her forehead. "I'm fine. I'm just glad to be home. We have a lot of things to do here before we go back to the base."

She blushed, and I kissed her cheek, whispering to her.

"We can get started any time you like," I suggested.

Even though she didn't say anything back, I knew she understood. If I couldn't watch her all the time during the day, I was sure I could do it through the night, and it looked like she wanted to do the same thing. I hadn't thought when we'd mated that I'd want something like this so soon, but I figured it was just the natural order of things. Especially now that it couldn't be reversed.

* * *

The next morning, even though I'd planned to be with Ava most of the day to keep an eye on Tu'San, I found that my responsibilities to council a few of the couples who were still expecting children took more precedence over keeping my mate safe, and I lost sight of her almost as soon as breakfast was over. Eyreal could probably see that I was distracted, but I knew it was part of my job to be there for all my clan members and not just the ones I was more acquainted with. While I was sitting in the small alcove with Eyreal and one of the said couples, I did my best to stay focused, even when the midday meal arrived and allowed me to leave the enclosed space and step out into the fresh air. I saw Ava coming into the village with a small group of young hunters, which included Taw'biht and Rey'sik along with Tu'San, and I didn't hesitate, moving through the village to where the small group was dismounting their _pa'li_.

The first thing I noticed were smudges of blue paint covering a distinctly large amount of Ava's skin, and I couldn't believe I hadn't seen it before. I was confused, even though the sight wasn't all that surprising. Even though I was used to seeing her pink skin under all her stripes and freckles, seeing her with large swathes of blue paint covering her was actually kind of appealing to my eyes. And when Ava saw me watching her, she smiled, jumping down from her saddle and moving to where I'd stopped. I lifted my fingers to her face, noticing a patch of smeared paint and prompting her to wrap her hand around my wrist.

"I'm confused," I told her. "Why are you wearing blue paint?"

She giggled softly, taking my hand and pulling me through the village with a glance over her shoulder where everyone else who'd gone out with her was already moving toward the tree to get their food. She found a small group of little girls, and I noticed Lan sitting there with her friends. I also noticed that her fingers were nearly covered in blue paint that was almost caked on over her skin which was already blue enough. When we were close enough, Lan stood up and hurried to where we were standing.

"It worked," she exclaimed victoriously. "Didn't it?"

Ava laughed once, draping her arm over Lan's shoulders and lifting her eyes to mine. "It did work," Ava confirmed. "Very well as a matter of fact."

I lifted my hands to my waist, shifting my gaze between the two of them even as I still grinned. "What is going on between the two of you?" I asked playfully.

"Isn't is obvious?" Ava asked showing me her hands that were still covered in blue paint. I took her hands in mine gently, realizing very quickly how close the color was to my own skin, and I looked at the stripes lining Ava's shoulders and arms, noticing how closely her skin now looked like mine.

"Of course," I whispered, lifting my fingers to her face again. "You look like everyone else, so none of the other clans' hunters would target you because you look different."

"It was all your little friend's idea," Ava said, gesturing to Lan as she stood by quietly. "It took a little while to apply, and it rubs off, but it did the trick. Even Rey'sik and Taw'biht couldn't see the difference between me and the other girls."

"We had to use a lot of paint," Lan admitted. "I hope _ma sa'nok_ isn't too upset with me for making so much."

I remembered that Lan's mother was one of the weavers in the village responsible for making a lot of the paint and ceremonial dressings, and I silently wondered how much paint had been used to cover Ava's pink skin. From what I could see, even her back and legs had been painted, almost completely covering her where her stripes didn't already.

"We'll have to put more on if you go out again," Lan commented, and I noticed her touching Ava's arms and her stomach. "But I'll have to gather more paint."

"You should eat first," I told Lan, reaching for her and pulling her into my arm to whisper to her. "Thank you."

She blushed and giggled, smiling as I released her and took Ava's hand in mine to make it back to where everyone else was already eating.

"I know one thing," I said to Ava softly as we walked.

She smiled at me. "And exactly what is that?" she asked just as softly.

"I'm definitely going to enjoy cleaning this off," I teased, watching her blush and kissing her forehead as we walked toward the gathering.

* * *

Being separated from Ava during the day became a continuing theme while we were in the village, especially since she was still kind of learning to scout and track for gathering supplies meant to go to the base. And to my complete dismay, the only older hunter who ever volunteered to take the scouting party out was Tu'San. I still couldn't understand what had happened to make his attitude change, and I wasn't going to fool myself into believing it was because he'd finally accepted the fact that there wasn't anything he could do about me and Ava.

What shocked me even more was how much it looked like Ava actually enjoyed being around him the way she had before we'd mated. It didn't bother me really, but I was just surprised by her willingness to be around him the way it had surprised me when she'd saved Rey'sik's life. I knew there were still a lot of things about her I didn't know and probably never would, but I never believed I would ever feel so possessive of her, and that shocked me most of all. And as the days passed by about as quickly as they ever had, that feeling only intensified.

At night, when it was just me, Ava and Thomas, I reveled in the feeling of having the two of them close to me in a way I hadn't been able to since losing Neytiri. I realized we were becoming a family in the deepest way possible, and I wanted more than anything to give Ava a child of her own to help our little family grow. It was clear she wanted the same thing, sometimes initiating things between the two of us when Thomas would spend the night with Eyreal and her family. Our mating was just as important to me as it was to her, maybe even more so, and I wanted to make sure she knew that since our activities during the day kept us apart.

The ambushes and attacks from the other clan's hunters stopped almost completely after Lan's idea to paint Ava's skin so that she blended in with everyone around her. I was amazed at how ingenious the whole thing had been, especially for a child as young as she was, and every time Ava went out with hunters, Lan reveled in the ability to sit down with her and paint over her body. I couldn't believe none of the older hunters had thought of it first, but it made sense that a little girl would come up with such a solution. Most children could see the solution to any problem a lot easier than most grown-ups could.

I could tell Ava liked being able to leave the village without worrying about being singled out by the hunters who'd been targeting her, and based on the supplies and food she brought back along with the other hunters with her, it was obvious she enjoyed blending in with the other girls around her. Whenever I saw her coming back from the scouting parties, she was always smiling, more happy than I'd seen her since she'd first come to the village. I wanted to believe I had something to do with that, but a little voice in my head that sounded a lot like Norm reminded me that if I hadn't insisted on her having protection whenever she went out, the hunters with her would be powerless to keep her safe.

"We're getting farther away from the village every day," she said one night while we were standing in the waterfall pool washing off her paint from that day.

"Not too far, I hope," I pleaded softly, easing my hands over her shoulders and using plant extract to wash the paint off her skin. She shivered gently, glancing over her shoulder at me.

"It's fine, Jake, really," she promised. "I have three guards who keep me in their sights at all times. You really don't need to worry."

"Three?" I repeated.

She nodded. "Toby and Rey'sik, of course. But Tu'San keeps an eye on me too. Like he used to before . . ." She stopped, bowing her head as she wiped the paint from her arms.

I eased my hands down her back, feeling her shiver again and washing all the paint away before I eased my hands around the front of her torso and pulled her back against my chest. "I wish I could come out with you," I said softly. "If anything to see how this stuff interacts with your saddle."

She smiled, laughing softly and turning to face me. She lifted her clean hands to the back of my head, and I laid my hands over her lower back, pulling her against me again. "That time will come," she assured me. "You just need to be patient. You have more important things to do in the village, and I'm getting used to this new ability of mine to come and go as I please."

I lifted my hand to her face, still holding her close to me. "Nothing else I do is ever going to be more important to me than you are," I promised her.

She blushed again, leaning closer and kissing me gently. I took over after half a minute, easing the palm of my hand to the back of her head and starting to relax just as I felt another pair of eyes on us in a way I hadn't in a very long time. I reluctantly leaned away from her, looking around the grove surrounding the waterfalls and swearing on every one of my senses that I could feel someone else watching us. I wasn't even sure how I knew.

"What's wrong?" Ava asked, still holding onto me and looking around too.

I didn't want to scare her, turning my attention back to her and resuming the cleaning. "Nothing's wrong. Let's just get finished and get back to the village. You might wear paint to hide from hateful eyes, but it's still dangerous out here for you."

She didn't say anything, allowing me to turn her back to me so we could finish cleaning off her paint before too much more time passed. I didn't want to make her paranoid since I knew it would sound like that's what I was being, but I knew in my gut that someone was spying on us. I knew it like I'd known a lot of the things that had been happening the last nearly eleven years since I'd come to Pandora. And whether I _was_ being paranoid or not, no one would fault me that it wasn't warranted, even provoked. Ava _had_ been attacked while she'd been away from the village. I wasn't about to let that happen again by being careless — even if that meant I couldn't really focus on her and had to keep my mind on keeping us safe. Ava's safety was just as important to me as Thomas', and I knew he was safe. I had to make sure she stayed that way.

When we made it back to the village, the first thing I did was make sure the only people still on the ground were the elderly members of the clan who were usually still tending to the fires and food the way they did when everyone turned in for the night. Once I was sure no one who wasn't supposed to be out actually was, I pulled Ava up into the tree to a hammock close to our mat since I was pretty sure Thomas was sleeping with Eyreal and her family for the night. After having spent a few nights on the base and slept in a hammock like this one with Ava in my arms, I'd seen to getting one of our own like it in Hometree for times just like this. I didn't want to diminish Thomas' presence in my life, but he was growing up, and there were times when I _did_ want to focus on Ava.

"I've been meaning to ask you since that morning," I said softly once we were settled in our hammock. "Why do you call him 'Toby'?"

She blushed, touching my cheek and rubbing my shoulder. "Well, because if I called him by his given name all the time, I'd probably have a bad case of getting my tongue twisted," she laughed softly. "Plus, he was one of the first hunters my age who actually gave me a chance. Of course, I had to save someone's life first, but he still gave me an opportunity to prove I was here to stay. And he's been my friend since."

I leaned closer, rubbing the tip of her nose with mine and feeling her shiver gently. "He's more than a friend, Ava," I whispered, watching her lower her eyes and bow her head. "I mean, it's okay. I'm glad you have someone like him that you can confide in if you have to or need to, or even if you just want to. But I saw the look on your face when he was fighting me. And we both know how you reacted when he was getting ready for his Dream Hunt. I just wish I'd seen it before it went as far as it did when he felt the need to challenge me over you. I had no idea."

"Of what?" she prompted, lifting her eyes to mine and surprising me with the contempt in her voice. "That anyone could want me like that? The way you did. The way I know Tu'San did. Were you hoping you could scare all of the others away so no one would want me?"

"No," I insisted. "That's not what I meant. I had no idea he would feel that strongly about protecting you. Because he never really expressed an interest in you that way. Not to me or Mo'at or even Eyreal. Don't put words in my mouth. _You_ chose _me_, remember?"

She inhaled deeply, still holding onto me and laying her forehead against my lips. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I don't know why I said that. This could've gone very differently if we'd talked about something completely different that night, but I wouldn't change this for anything. I wouldn't give you up even if my own life were in danger. I swear."

"Now you're scaring me," I said softly. "Why would that ever happen? I would never let that happen. I promise."

She didn't say anything else, leaning closer and pressing her cheek to my throat. She relaxed slowly, and I didn't stop her, thinking about what she'd just said and wondering who'd put all those ideas in her head. Surely Rey'sik and Taw'biht wouldn't have say anything like that to her, not after having spent the last several weeks watching Ava with me and going to the base with us. And then I realized that only left one other person who she'd been spending time with a lot more than me.

* * *

The next time we went back to the base — which based on what one of Ava's reading pads told me the night before we left put it in the first week in October (which for me was weird since I'd never worried about that kinda thing in a really long time) — I made a point putting Mo'at in charge officially. I knew the only way to really keep Tu'San from doing anything suspicious was to make it where he would have to go through her before he did anything. I wasn't really worried about how that appeared, especially when the safety of one of my clan members was at stake and especially since that clan member happened to be my mate. Mo'at seemed to understand what I needed, able to read me like a well-worn book with dog-ears and everything, and she didn't refuse, especially when I told her it could be more than a week before we came back. I told her I wanted to see how our hunters there were settling in even though we'd all been in communication, and I also wanted to get a look around the area for other hunters from other clans and animals that could possibly pose threats to the base. She understood my concern for the people there especially now that they had children, and I was grateful for that.

Instead of Norm coming out with the Samson, Ava and I were flying in with Eyreal, Rey'sik, Taw'biht and Kalin under the guise of getting a full report from the hunters staying on the base. In reality, I think I wanted all of them with me to prevent Tu'San from influencing anyone else close to Ava. I knew if he was doing or saying something around her to make her think things that weren't normal for her to think, the only time he couldn't do it was when we were on the base, so the longer we could stay on the base without interfering with my own responsibilities in the village, the better. I knew we couldn't stay on the base forever, but I wanted to stay long enough so that when we went back, whatever Tu'San was doing wouldn't work anymore.

After remembering the promise I'd made to Lan before the last time we'd gone to the base, I made sure I was with her when we talked to her mother and father about this particular trip. I made for sure they understood that even though she would be away from the village for several days, she would be with me and Eyreal and we would keep her safe like she was our own child. I also tried to explain how it would be a good experience for her to see that not all Sky People were bad, and the kids on the base would like seeing her and playing with her since she was just about their size. I could tell they weren't that sure about exposing their daughter to the Sky People's base, but I assured them everything would be okay. They trusted me and Eyreal to not let anything happen to her, and I gave them my word that we would let them know how she was doing every day. I even showed Tìohakx how to use the communicator so he could call me if he needed to.

"I'm excited," Lan exclaimed as we walked up into the tree with her mother and father to get to the roost where Ava was waiting with the others. "I've only ever been to the outskirts of the village."

"You will be good," her mother stipulated. "Mind _olo'eyktan_."

"_Srane, sa'nu."_

Tìme'em gave Lan a stern look, lifting her eyes to mine and then bowing her head as Lan's father presented me with what looked like a harness.

"Lor'syulang can be much to look after," he said slowly and softly. _"Pehrr oe tswayeron nìpxi."_

He grinned slightly, kneeling in front of Lan and fitting the harness around her as she lifted her bright golden eyes to mine. I tried to see how it would fit, only seeing shoulder straps just before her father motioned for me to squat down in front of her. He helped me with the shoulder straps, and Lan climbed onto my back, locking her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. I was amazed at how secure the harness felt especially when I thought about how heavy Lan actually was. I stood up with her, having never actually carried Thomas quite like this and immediately looking for my son as he stood next to Eyreal and Ava a few meters away.

"I've only flown with _sempu_," Lan said from behind me.

"Well, you'll get to see a lot more than just the forest around Hometree," I told her. "All the kids are gonna be flooding you with questions about the base when you get back. But you're gonna need to be still while we're in the air, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed.

Ava moved to my side, smiling at Lan and wrapping her hand around my arm. "Are we ready?"

I smiled, moving my hand to hers. "About as ready as we're going to get."

I looked back at Lan's mother and father, nodding as I moved further up into the roost where Rey'sik, Taw'biht and Kalin were mounting their own _ikrans_ and taking off quickly. Eyreal found her banshee, her eyes finding mine before she climbed onto the creature's back with Thomas behind her and then flying away from the tree branches without a word. I didn't say anything to Ava, allowing her forward to call Hawnuyu and watching her follow the others so I would have enough room to mount my own _ikran_ with Lan in tow.

The little girl on my back was only too happy to hold onto me while we took off from the branches into the open air around Hometree. She was giggling before we were even ten meters away, and even though I wanted to look at her every time she made noise, I fought my curiosity and kept my eyes on the sky. It had been a while since I'd actually had a passenger this small, and I didn't want to have any mishaps while we were in mid-flight. I didn't want anything to happen once we were on the ground either, but that was another situation entirely. I was pretty confident I wouldn't have anything to worry about once we were there.

One of the first things I noticed different about the base when we were all close enough was what looked like a water-catching bladder suspended by ropes and columns a few dozen meters from the long-house. Rey'sik, Taw'biht and Kalin landed first, and I saw two figures on the grass near where they touched down. One of them was naturally small, and I hoped it was Norm since I was hoping to talk to him while I was on the base. The other figure was a little more difficult to identify, and the closer I got, the more I realized why I didn't recognize them.

I landed with Ava, Eyreal and Thomas, pulling Lan around to my chest and moving closer to the unfamiliar figure, and at first, I thought was I was seeing things. I thought maybe Norm had convinced the female hunter who'd stayed behind on the base to try on some avatar clothes. But this woman, who was the same size as Eyreal and colored about the same didn't look uncomfortable, and her hair was tucked neatly behind her pointed ears as she stood there in a pair of khaki shorts and a dark blue tank top. She was barefoot as she carried an avatar-sized information pad in her five-fingered hands. I stopped in front of her knowing exactly what she was, but uncertain _who_ she was.

Norm noticed my reaction to his friend, and he spoke up.

"Hey, Jake," he said with a nod. "Nice to have you back. You remember Helen?"

I had to step closer, and she smiled, glancing at Norm and then everyone else as I got almost nose to nose with her. "Helen?" I asked softly. "How? I thought you didn't have enough power to use the link room."

"Well, we took your advice," she said, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Wow, you sound just like yourself," I marveled. "And you look about . . . seven years younger," I commented, remembering how long it had been since she'd put her avatar in stasis. The closer I looked, the more her natural features popped out at me. Though her eyes were golden like mine, and her hair was black like mine, her cheekbones and her lips were the same, along with her chin and jaw. I looked at Norm. "Is everyone out? How long have you been doing this?"

He laughed softly. "No, not everyone. Right now, it's just Helen, Lisa and Mitch. And it's only been for the last two and half weeks. We're trying to switch them out on a daily basis each so they're not out of their avatars more than a couple of days."

"_Uniltìranyu,"_ Lan said softly, reaching out to touch Helen's face.

I wasn't fast enough to stop her, and she laid her finger over Helen's forehead a second after speaking. She smiled, and Helen laughed, reaching for her hand to hold it gently.

"You're a smart little girl," Helen said, looking at me and then Lan. "What's your name?"

"Lor'syulang," she replied, her voice nearly a whisper.

"Well, you are most certainly very beautiful."

Lan blushed, holding onto me tighter as I glanced back at the four others who'd come with us. I knew they were all old enough to have at least seen me when I'd come to the village nearly eleven years earlier, but it appeared the action of actually seeing an avatar was a little overwhelming for them.

I put Lan on the ground beside me, and she automatically latched onto Ava and Thomas while I offered my hand to Helen and pulled her toward where Eyreal was heading the small group behind her. She appeared the least apprehensive, approaching me and Helen first though her pace was slow and cautious as I spoke.

"This is Helen," I said to Eyreal. "You remember her. She has red hair in her other body. She's Keira, Joseph and Fiona's mother."

It took several seconds of staring for Eyreal to see the subtle nuances of Helen's features, and she lifted her hand to Helen's face, touching her nose and then her chin before she smiled and lifted her eyes to mine. "I See her."

Helen took Eyreal's hand in hers, grasping and then leaning forward to embrace her. Eyreal was thankfully familiar enough with Human gestures, and she reciprocated gently as Helen spoke thoughtfully.

"_Oel ngati kameie,"_ she whispered to Eyreal.

Eyreal leaned back enough to look Helen in the eyes, and they laughed together before I pulled Helen closer to Rey'sik as he stood beside Taw'biht and Kalin.

"This is Helen," I told them. "This is her Dreamwalker body. It's okay. She's a friend."

Rey'sik, though he'd probably been one of my more vocal opponents several months earlier, was the first to follow Eyreal, and he stepped in front of Helen nervously. "I recognize you from last trip," he acknowledged. "You were much . . . shorter then. And not as . . . pretty."

He blushed when he said this, but Helen lifted her hand to his shoulder. "Thank you," she said softly. "It was touch and go there for a few hours, but it felt like slipping into an old, comfortable pair of shoes. Almost immediately, everything came back. And I can understand how my other appearance wouldn't be very appealing to your eyes. But what can I say? Max prefers me that way. I'm just doing this to help him out."

"Help him with what?" I asked off-handedly.

"Just some things in the lab," she shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

"Where are your children?" Lan asked, now at my side with Ava and Thomas following close behind.

I knelt in front of Lan, speaking softly. "We talked about this," I told her. "You know better than to be nosy. The kids will be out here soon enough. Come on," I said taking her hand. "Let's get everyone settled before I talk to the other hunters."

She didn't object, grasping onto my hand and then bowing her head as I pulled her toward the long-house. Everyone else followed, and I looked around to see if anything else had changed. Surely nothing else could have changed in a few short weeks.

The four hunters we'd left to keep watch on the base seemed to have adapted to a pseudo-village life, having made a small "camp" of their own that had everything from Hometree they needed to keep up their own responsibilities. And it was refreshing to see such a small group of them having become quite adept at their separate tasks. The lone female hunter who'd stayed behind was the first to emerge from the make-shift encampment they'd established, and she smiled when she saw me. She looked about the same except for the different look in her eyes, and the moment I was close enough, she spoke.

"_Olo'eyktan,"_ she greeted bowing her head.

I nodded, grinning as the other three hunters, all male, joined her just outside the small circle their tents made near the long-house. "Nìmun," I said softly.

"You come to check on progress of new village?" she asked.

I smiled a little wider. "Something like that. You seem to be settling in here pretty well. I hope you haven't gotten lonely."

She tilted her head at me, her topaz eyes curious and then confused. "Lone-ly? I do not . . . understand."

"He means leaving you here with us males," the tallest and most masculine of the male hunters said with a wide, toothy grin. "But of course, _olo'eyktan_ remembers we all respect our sisters."

I nodded in his direction. "Of course. Thank you, Letam. I'm sure Nìmun can hold her own against the three of you."

She blushed, bowing her head again as the two male hunters left stepped closer to me and offered their greetings. They were both the same size, but the one I was most familiar with smiled wider when I acknowledged him.

"It is good you are back," he said. "_Uniltìranyu_ very difficult to see walking around like people."

I laid my hand over his shoulder, squeezing gently. "Well, it looks like we're all going to be getting used to it. These Dreamwalkers are my friends, just as much as you are. Understand, Rangal?"

He bowed his head, still grinning. "Yes, _olo'eyktan_."

"We have been patrolling this place for nearly _aysrr mevosìng_," the fourth and final hunter complained. "Animals afraid of this place. Only _lenay'ga_ and _riti_ seem confident enough to attack here."

"Then I hope if any have, you've protected the people here like they were your own," I told him. "Because that's what I expect from you, and it's something they deserve for standing by us in our own time of need."

He grinned, reminding me of Tu'San for a second before he also bowed his head in agreement. "Always, _olo'eyktan_."

"Good," I nodded. "We have to prove we're better than the Sky People who left this place, Kilvan. Remember that. So," I said with my arms wide. "What have you been up to in the last three weeks?"

Letam stepped forward and nodded for me to follow him, and I allowed him to lead the way as I still pulled Lan behind him. I glanced back at Ava and Thomas, and they both followed me toward the small "camp" while Eyreal, Rey'sik, Taw'biht and Kalin all talked to Nìmun, Kilvan and Rangal about life on the base. I absently noticed Rey'sik looking at Nìmun, but I decided it wasn't a great time for anyone to play match-maker right now. I still had a lot of business to do on the base and only a short amount of time to do it.

Norm and Helen followed into the small camp, and we all settled around one of the fire pits as Letam began explaining everything that had been happening on the base. So far, nothing had attacked the base that hadn't been handled by Letam or Kilvan, and even though they kept to themselves most of the time, the last few weeks, they'd been getting used to the three avatars moving around the base again.

"The male, _Mitch_, asked immediately if there would be anything he would be able to do," Letam reported. "He has not complained over manual labor, and it has been much help."

"Good," I nodded, looking at Norm and seeing a wary look on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Isn't it good that Mitch is helping them when he's out here with them?"

"Of course it's good," he assured him, though his expression didn't relay any assurance.

"Who's gonna be out here tomorrow?" I asked him.

"Mitch," he said certainly.

"And when is Lisa going to be out here?" I pressed. "The day after tomorrow?"

He didn't meet my eyes, sitting beside Helen uncomfortably. "Probably not," he said. "She's helping Max in the lab."

"She was doing that the last time I was here," I reminded him. "Am I ever going to be able to see her again? Are you afraid of something, Norm?"

"No, I'm not, Jake," he said adamantly. "She's helping Max in the lab. Look, I gotta get inside, but I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll see you inside, Norm," Helen said with a nod as he rose without looking at me and left without saying another word to me.

I tried not to let it bother me that he was still keeping something from me, and I tried to think of what it was probably like to be in his shoes. But I refused to be ignored. I had to keep this place safe, and I couldn't do that without his help. He had to know that. Didn't he?

"Try not to hold it against him," Helen said to me after he was gone. "We've been taking this as slow as we can, but it's still taking a lot of reserves to make it work. We decided we needed to at least try it with a few of us before the shuttle gets here to see if we can do it without their help. Above everything else, we don't want to look like we need their presence here to stay in operation. But between you and me, we're probably going to need to come to some kind of agreement with them anyway. The more of us there are out here when they get here, the better," she said, nudging me and making me look at her.

I smiled, allowing Lan to sit over my legs and watching as the rest of our entourage finally entered the little camp. I was glad Helen wanted me to know at least a little of what was going on, even if I could sense from her that there was still a lot more that needed to be said. But it was too late in the day to really get into it, and I was exhausted from the flight and from carrying Lan from Hometree.

It was nearly dark when Helen laid down her avatar, and Ava and I walked Lan and Thomas into the long-house with her since the others had decided to sleep outside like they were used to. After Helen's avatar was long silent, I moved around to a hammock that looked big enough for me and Lan, discovering one of the other avatars there and noticing the clothes before I decided it had to be Mitch's. It had his jaw and his mouth, and his tail swished as he slept.

"That's another one, isn't it?" Lan asked. _"Uniltìranyu."_

"Yes, _he_ is. But we're not going to disturb him."

"_Ma sempul,"_ Thomas said as he moved around the aisle between the beds. "Can I choose _nivi_ of my own?"

I smiled, helping Lan into the hammock. "Well, of course you can. It'll be yours from now on, okay?"

He grinned widely, choosing a hammock near the one I was attempting to climb into and settling in as Ava moved up behind me and eased her arms around my waist.

"Are we _all_ going to share this one?" she asked, smiling and leaning up to kiss my cheek.

"We can," I nodded, and she moved around to the other side of the hammock to hold onto it while I climbed in as swiftly as I could. She followed me, easing into the hammock behind Lan until we were all situated inside comfortably. Lan fell asleep almost immediately with her head resting on my chest, and I whispered to Ava softly. "This is something we have to look forward to," I told her.

She laughed softly, blushing and gently kissing the side of Lan's face. I could see she liked having Lan around, but there was also something else in her eyes I hadn't noticed before. She was almost glowing.

I relaxed as we all laid in the hammock, thinking of what it would be like to do this for real with Ava when we had a baby and wondering if we'd both gone through enough to have earned the right to have such a gift given to us.

* * *

For every day that we were on the base this time, I think I asked Norm about Lisa and whether I was gonna get to see her, but he was more evasive than I'd ever seen him, and I couldn't get him to budge. Lisa never came out into the courtyard, not even in her human body, and I started to get worried. It was obvious after a few days that they both knew something neither of them wanted me to know. It _irritated_ me, and I couldn't really get my head around what they could possibly be hiding. I knew it was more than the avatars, especially since they'd taken three of the avatars out of stasis and were now using them on a limited basis. There had to be something they could tell me without really breaching some crazy idea of confidence they thought they needed to keep.

What made it worse was the fact that it started to show with Ava too. There was a little while there when she looked even more worried about Lisa than she'd been over Taw'biht when he'd been preparing for his Dream Hunt. It only seemed to natural for her to worry, especially since she knew Lisa more closely than anyone else around her — even Helen and Eyreal. Lisa had been a big part of her childhood, and not seeing her when she'd been expecting to was hard on her. And that's when I took notice to Norm's behavior.

However he wanted to avoid me was up to him, and I could take it. But the instant it started to hurt Ava, that's where I drew the line. It wasn't like Ava could understand what Norm was trying to do, and I couldn't really explain it to her except to say that he thought he was protecting us from something he wasn't sure we — I could handle. So I was reduced to separating Norm from everyone else one afternoon after we'd already been on the base six days. And it wasn't like I hadn't already attempted to get _something_ out of him.

"I'm really busy today, Jake," he said before I could say anything. "We're having to pull double shifts in the link room, and I'm running diagnostics on the avatars still in stasis. Maybe we can save this until tomorrow."

He tried to walk away, but I stopped him, taking his arms in my hands and holding him in place as I took advantage of the fact that I was a lot bigger than he was.

"Well, we're going to talk about it now," I told him. "I want to know what's going on with Lisa. I mean, if she's really working in the lab, then you can tell me what she's doing. And I know something other than the avatars is going on around here. So just tell me. If you don't, I can't keep any of you safe."

Norm shifted out of my hands, lifting his hands to his waist. "I _really_ don't know what you're talking about," he pressed. "I told you we're just worried about the avatars since they've been in stasis for so long."

"So tell me about the extra avatar in the lab," I hedged.

He lifted his eyes to mine. "There is no extra avatar in the lab," he insisted.

"I saw the extra pod," I shouted. "I know it's in there. Stop lying to me."

He clenched his jaws. "I'm not lying to you," he shouted back. "There isn't an extra avatar in the lab, and there isn't anything else going on."

"So you don't want my help?" I demanded, warranting the attention of Ava and Helen as they emerged from the long-house. "Because I can just leave all of you here to rot! I don't _have_ to keep coming here to keep any of you safe. I thought you could trust me. But if you won't tell me this, then I can't trust you."

"I never asked you to keep any of us safe," he spat. "We're getting by just fine without you coming here and forcing members of your clan to stay here just in case more _Sky People_ decide to grace us with their presence! And I don't care if you leave. The last thing we need here is an overzealous jerk pushing us around and telling us what to do just to keep his peace of mind knowing he's doing us a service! If you want to go, no one's stopping you. So just leave! We don't need you here."

"Guys!" Helen called over the two of us. "That's enough. What's going on here?"

I turned to her, seeing confusion in her eyes but also seeing something that looked like what Norm had looked like a few months earlier when he'd started acting strange. "Don't dare act innocent in all this," I accused. "Because I know you're helping him. How could you keep anything from me? I thought we were family. Are you seriously willing to risk the safety of your children over whatever it is you're keeping from me?"

Ava moved to my side, grabbing my arm and turning me to face her. "Jake, what's wrong? Why are you so mad? I thought you said you were going to let him tell you when he was ready."

"It's been weeks," I exclaimed, turning back to face Norm as he stood there clenching and unclenching his fists. "Whatever it is he's keeping from me is starting to affect you. And I can't let him do that. I don't really care if he thinks he's protecting anyone. It seems like the only thing he's interested in protecting is his own ass!"

"Stop!" Helen yelled. "Jake, just stop. Please."

I inhaled deeply, turning to her and attempting to calm myself. "Then will you please tell me what you're hiding? Please. I don't want anything bad to happen to any of you, but I can't keep any of you safe unless I know everything that's going on here. Helen, please. You know how much I care about all of you. I love your kids like their my own. I don't want them to get hurt because of something we could've prevented."

I knew I'd hit a nerve mentioning her kids, because honestly, it was the same thing to me when this was starting to affect Ava, and I'd be damned if I was gonna wait any longer to allow this to affect my son and any other member of my clan. Helen looked seriously conflicted, and I knew whatever she was hiding with Norm was a lot bigger than anything he'd implied. She stared at me with pleading gold eyes, and for a minute, it looked like she was going to give in.

But then she bowed her head, folding her arms over her chest. "We're not hiding anything from you, Jake," she said softly. "With me and Mitch and Lisa being out in our avatars, we're all just stressed, and it's obviously taking its toll. But I promise you, it's okay. If I knew it was going to put my own children in danger, I swear I'd be the last person to keep it from you."

I couldn't remember the last time I'd been more disappointed and . . . _furious_. And I never thought I'd see the day when I was furious at Helen or Norm or both of them at the same time. But this was insulting, and I decided then and there that I wasn't going to inconvenience them with my presence anymore since it was obviously causing them stress to see me and keep this from me.

"Fine," I said, trying not to sound angry and failing. "We'll leave in the morning, and you don't have to worry about us coming back. We won't bother you anymore."

I took Ava's hand in mine, pulling her away from them toward the camp where Eyreal and Taw'biht had moved to the edge when they'd obviously heard us all shouting.

"Jake, please," Helen called. "It's not what you're thinking."

I stopped just short of being out of her sight, turning and seeing her still where she'd been even though Norm was now gone. "But you won't tell me the truth," I pressed. "And I can't trust you if you won't trust me. You should know that's how I work."

I turned before she could speak again, looking at Eyreal and then Taw'biht before I spoke. "Get everything together," I ordered, feeling the tone in my own voice foreign even to me as I was forced to take a stance I swore I never would. "We're leaving in the morning."

Neither of them argued, and I didn't really expect them to. I was done being understanding of the very people who refused to place their trust in me over something that was apparently not that important despite it being important enough to keep from me. That in and of itself didn't make any sense to me.

When I explained to Thomas that we were all leaving in the morning, I didn't like telling him that there wasn't anything Norm and I could say to each other to fix what we'd argued about. Honestly, it had been much more than just an argument. I hadn't argued like that with anyone since before Tommy had died, and then I'd found myself shoved into a cryopod on my way to Pandora in his place. But Thomas didn't argue or try to change my mind. He accepted that it was time to go home, and when I told Lan, I didn't know how I tell her that she couldn't spend anymore time with the kids here since she'd actually gotten a little attached to them. She'd been talking to her father every morning, but during the day, she'd spent most of her time running around with Elizabeth and Cecilia since they were the closest to her size. I knew she didn't want to leave yet, but I couldn't do anything to stop it. If Norm wasn't going to give me a little faith, then I couldn't give him the benefit of the doubt.

When I put her in one of the hammocks by herself that night, I could tell she was upset, but I did my best to assure her that she'd be happy to see her mother and father again, along with her brothers. Ava was laying in our hammock when I found her, and I slipped in beside her, easing my arms around her and holding her close as she spoke softly to keep from disturbing Thomas and Lan.

"Jake, I'm confused," she said, laying her hands over my face. "What did Norm do to upset you so bad?"

"It's hard to explain," I whispered, easing the palm of my hand over the side of her body to her waist and then passed her hip. "I've known him a long time, and this is the first time I can remember him being like this. With everything going on and everything waiting to happen down the road, we all have to trust each other and be honest with each other. And I know he's keeping something important from me — and you, even if it doesn't really seem like anything should be more important to me than you right now. And now I'm sure Lisa knows and that's why she hasn't been out here to see you or me since we got here five days ago."

"But if he doesn't think you're ready to know it, then shouldn't you trust that he's doing what he thinks is best? You told me a long time ago that he did know things you'd never be able to comprehend. Maybe this is one of those things. I just don't want you to lose him as a friend," she insisted, and I could hear a small bit of agony in her voice.

I made her look at me, laying my forehead over hers and taking her hand in mine. "You're really all I need," I promised her. "You and Thomas, and a child of our own. If Norm wants me around, he'll break it down so I can understand, but until he does that, I really do have other things to focus on."

I leaned closer to her, rubbing the tip of her nose with mine and then allowing my lips to brush against hers in the hopes of leaving a little of this to worry over in the morning, but almost as soon as I started kissing her, Ava nudged me away just a little and whispered.

"Can you just hold me?" she pleaded. "Jake."

I didn't question her behavior, holding her closer and kissing her forehead again. "Of course I can," I whispered softly against her skin. "Always."

She fell asleep in my arms, and after a little while of laying there and listening to the silence, I fell asleep too, even though I was plagued with thinking about every word that I'd heard Norm yell at me during our fight.

I had a dream that night unlike any other dream I'd had so far, about the giant crevice opening up beneath my feet and swallowing me up whole without anything to hold my head above ground. And when my feet touched solid ground again, I was standing in front of Tommy as he walked down a dark city street with his chin tucked into his chest. He'd always kept his head down, just like I'd told him, and I'd realized a long time ago that it was probably what had gotten him killed.

I saw the scumbag who was going to kill him before he did, and when I looked at my body, I saw that I was in my Human body. But I wasn't in a wheelchair. I was walking, and I screamed at the top of my lungs for Tommy to turn around and beat the shit out of the piece of crap about to end his life. But nothing happened. The asshole still stopped Tommy on the street and demanded everything out of his pockets. He still robbed my brother of every valuable thing on his body, and he still shot him with the gun in his hand.

I watched people from up the street run to Tommy and try to help him, and I heard him whisper as they surrounded him. _"Oh, God. Jake. I wish I'd told you."_

"_What are you saying, Jake? You knew this would happen?"_

Neytiri's voice flooded my mind as I dreamed, and I was standing in front of her the day I'd nearly lost her trying to explain to her what I'd done.

I bowed my head, ashamed. _"Yes," _I admitted. _"Look, at first, it was just orders. And then . . . everything changed. Okay? I fell in love,"_ I gushed, hoping she understood but afraid she never would. _"I fell in love with the forest and with the Omaticaya people. With you."_ She tried to push me away, but I didn't want to let her go. _"With you,"_ I said again.

"_I trusted you,"_ she said sadly.

"_With you."_

"_I trusted you!"_ she screamed in my face.

"_Well, what the hell did you expect?"_ Grace said behind me, and I turned to see her there in her Human body.

Her face was ashen, and the white shirt she was wearing was covered in a large blood stain over her lower abdomen. _"I trusted you, Jake. Are you going to explain to me how my trust was misplaced?"_

"_I don't understand,"_ I said as the forest and the People vanished until it was just the two of us — just like in my dream the night Ava and I had mated. _"I tried to save you, Grace. I swear."_

"_Like you're trying to Amelia? Or like you saved Ava? You have a strange meaning of the word, Jake. And I've run out of time. I'm sorry."_

The emptiness around me dissipated until I felt like I was falling again, and I'm not sure what made me wake up, but when I opened my eyes to see the dark interior of the long-house around me, I think I knew it was the last dream I was going to have. And I wasn't really sure I felt good about it.

* * *

Norm didn't come out of the lab the next morning when we were ready to leave, but I wasn't surprised. I'd spent the better part of the last eleven years doing everything in my power to keep him and everyone else here safe, but I was done with him treating me like I was better off ignorant. After all this time, I honestly thought we'd moved passed that.

What did surprise me was the fact that all four of the hunters who'd been on the base the last three weeks wanted to stay even if I told them they didn't have to. Letam admitted as we got everything ready to take back that he'd become accustomed to his routine here, no matter how much he missed home. He said it was important for us to know when more Sky People came, and I actually agreed with him on that. So after talking to Nìmun, Kilvan and Rangal, I got everyone who'd come with me ready to go.

I knew two things as I got Lan ready with her harness and Thomas ready with Eyreal before we all took off without saying goodbye to anyone else there. I didn't know if I was ever going to be able to forgive Norm for any of the things he'd said or not said before or during our fight, and I didn't know when and if I was ever going to come back without being called first. And I didn't like how that felt.

When before I'd come back to Hometree from the base and been relieved to be home, this time, when I saw the canopy standing tall over the forest around it, I was surprised that I felt sad and a little empty. I'd never felt more upset about being home, and I knew it was because I felt like I'd lost someone more important to me than I'd ever realized before yelling in his face and leaving without saying goodbye to him. And Ava was the only one who stayed behind when we all landed in the topmost branches at mid-morning.

"You'll call him in a few days," she told me. "I'm sure everything will be okay by then."

While I wished I had more faith in the situation than she did, I didn't stop her from going on in her own activities. I held her close to me while we walked from the roost into the branches of the tree toward the ground, and when we made it, the first thing I noticed was Tu'San standing off in the distance watching us hold each other. I pulled Ava closer, leaning closer and kissing her softly before I whispered to her while glancing over her shoulder at him.

"You shouldn't worry about me and Norm," I told her. "I don't know how long it'll be before we go back to the base, but he'll call if he needs us. We'll just focus on things here like we normally would, and something you still need to do is stay safe. Okay?"

She smiled, bowing her head and then laying her cheek over the middle of my chest. She lifted her hands to my arms and squeezed gently before she spoke. "Okay," she whispered.

* * *

Though it shouldn't have surprised me, I did nothing to hide my discomfort when Tu'San began gathering a hunting party after the midday meal. I still wasn't sure about anything he was doing, and I still didn't trust that he'd completely moved on or let go, so when he requested Ava's presence in the hunting party, I did just about everything I could think of to prevent her from going. I didn't want her anywhere near him, but I wasn't going to tell her what she could or couldn't do, and it wasn't really up to me whether she went anywhere with him. I hadn't put any restrictions her interaction with Taw'biht when we'd first mated, and I didn't want to look anymore possessive than I already did by keeping her at the base for over six days.

So when it was time for them to go, I graciously stood back and watched Ava leave with the small party which incidently included every member of the group who'd just come back from the base. I guess Taw'biht and Rey'sik felt the need to keep Ava safe just as much as I did, and I got the feeling that they probably didn't trust Tu'San anymore than I did at that point. I was grateful at least they understood. And once they were gone, I found that my presence was needed for all the usual things I'd missed while being gone. I didn't get time to even look for Ava after she disappeared into the forest with the others. I had to jump right back into my other responsibilities. I hoped it wouldn't be as bad now as it had been before when we'd barely seen each other all day.

"You learned much during your visit to the Sky People's home?" Mo'at asked me as we made our way to the small alcove where a group of elders was waiting with a representative from another clan.

"I did," I told her simply.

"And you will again be returning on the next cycle to receive another update of their progress?" she continued.

I didn't want to lie to her, especially since she was really good at being able to tell when I wasn't being honest, so I told her the truth. "I'm not sure," I said softly, and she stopped to look at me.

"Has something happened to make you uncertain of your task there?" she pressed.

What was I supposed to say? Norm and I had argued like teenagers and were both unwilling to compromise when he refused to tell me what he was keeping from me? I'd walked away from them without a thought or a worry, and now I had to think about what I was gonna do when more Humans came? "I'm just not sure I'll be going back so soon," I told her instead. "I've got a lot to think about here, and the shuttle isn't going to be here for another three years. Please let me figure this out on my own. I can do it; I just need time."

She gazed into my eyes the way she did when she was trying to figure me out, but she didn't persist, allowing me to enter the alcove where the others were waiting and then following me silently. She didn't ask me about it again.

* * *

It was nearly dark when the hunting party came back with fresh kills for the coming meals, and even though I don't think Ava had been given time for Lan to paint her, I was relieved to see that she wasn't injured, whether physically or emotionally, because she looked just as happy and content as she had the last few times. At least as happy as anyone can look after hunting all afternoon and then coming back dirty and exhausted. I met them all in the grove behind Hometree, having been released from my duties in time for me to wait for them. Mo'at was getting really good at allowing me a little leeway where Ava was concerned, but I knew as soon as she passed all her responsibilities to Eyreal, that understanding would become a lot more difficult to come by, even if Eyreal did understand the circumstances were a little strange for the time being.

I thought for a few minutes while watching them all come into the grove that we could probably leave the gathering early to have a little time to ourselves, but when Ava dismounted her _pa'li_ and made her way to me, she didn't even say anything to me. She just looked at me and walked passed me. I looked at Taw'biht and Rey'sik, hoping to get a little insight into what was wrong, but neither of them spoke, glancing in Tu'San's direction and then walking off to follow Ava.

Instantly, I knew something _had_ happened. They hadn't been attacked or followed or even ambushed by another clan, but something had happened to cause this reaction from her. And I knew it was something Tu'San had either done or said. When he didn't even acknowledge me on his way to the gathering, I stopped him, making him look at me.

"Do we need to talk about this?" I asked quietly, feeling a good amount of anger twitching in my throat.

"Talk about what?" he growled, pulling his arm from my hand.

"About why she's behaving like that. What did you do?" I demanded. "Because you've been acting strange the last several weeks, and I want to know what you plan to accomplish by doing this. What did you say to her?"

"I tell her the truth," he grunted, stepping away from like if he didn't he was going to do something stupid and then walking toward Hometree with a look of pure disdain on his face.

I stood still for several minutes, wondering exactly what that meant. The truth. What did he mean by that? And what was it supposed to mean to me? I'd always been honest with Ava about everything that was happening, even when we'd mated, and I had no clue what he could possibly twist around to tell her "the truth." Even with her Dream Hunt, I'd told her everything Mo'at had said to, and the end result was still the same. How could he tell Ava the truth? The truth about what?

I thought about it all the way through the evening meal, watching Ava next to me silently and wondering what she was thinking and why she wouldn't talk to me. Thomas was tired from flying and then going out with his friends, and he wanted to get to sleep before everyone else was finished. It was difficult to get Ava to come with me, but after a few minutes, she rose and left with me and Thomas, and when we were alone, I tried to talk to her.

"Did I do something wrong?" I asked her, trying to hold her hand even as I guided Thomas and feeling her pull away. "I can't fix it unless I know what I did."

She didn't say anything, following me diligently until we were inside our alcove by ourselves. Thomas found one of his reading pads, carrying it onto our mat and lying down by himself, and while it was just me and Ava, I made her look at me, seeing something in her eyes that looked a lot like the way she'd looked after finding out about what I'd done just before the war.

"I need you to talk to me," I pleaded. "We should be able to talk about anything, but you're avoiding me for a reason. And I can't do anything about it unless you tell me. Please."

She bowed her head, balling her hands into fists against my chest and speaking softly. "When it was time for me to go through my Dream Hunt, you said Mo'at decided I didn't need to do it because I saved Rey'sik during _iknimaya_. Is that true?"

I thought back to that whole thing, remembering how scared I'd been that she wouldn't survive and how I'd pleaded with Mo'at to let her out of it so she wouldn't get hurt. I knew I'd been the one to keep her from doing it, but I'd told her Mo'at had decided something else completely different. And I felt chills all over at the realization of what _the truth_ was.

"Of course, it's true," I told Ava instead. "She was just as astonished at what you did as I was, and she knew you'd already passed your test."

"And she never changed her mind?" she asked quietly. "She never decided I needed to go through it after all that happened?"

"Of course not," I lied, feeling my heart in my throat as she lifted her eyes to mine and saw the fear in my eyes.

"Jake," she said, her voice quivering slightly. "Please. Tell me the truth."

I held onto her tighter, inhaling deeply and trying to calm my pulse. "It _is_ the truth," I told her.

She lifted her chin, pressing her balled fists into my chest and pushing me away. "You and Norm should start a club," she yelled. "Because you're both lying! I know you're lying. Just like you know he's lying. I can see it on your face. You promised, Jake! You promised no more secrets."

"But I was trying to protect you," I argued, still trying to hold onto her and failing. "All I ever wanted was to protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me!" she screamed, and I flinched, feeling it all the way in my toes. "I never needed you to protect me! I can take care of myself! All I ever wanted was for you to tell me the truth! And now you're lying to me. I know you are."

She backed away from me, but I stopped her. "Ava, please. I couldn't let you get hurt again. Not because of me. Not like her. And Mo'at said there was a real chance you could die. I couldn't let that happen. Please."

"But that was my choice!" she shrieked. "It's my life! Not yours. This was my decision. You had no right to take it from me! Are you going to do the same thing to Thomas when he's old enough?" she cried, and I automatically turned my eyes to where he was now watching the two of us yell at each other.

"I'm not her!" she spat. "I'll never be her! No matter what you do or what you say. Never!"

"I never wanted you to be her," I yelled. "I just wanted you safe. Please, listen to me. It doesn't matter why I did it. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you about it, but I was scared. I couldn't lose you after everything we'd been through. After I lost her. Please, Ava."

"Were you ever going to let me make my own choice?" she demanded. "Or did you have it all planned out when you saw me? I was just a way for you to redeem yourself to someone who's been dead for sixteen years!"

I grabbed her then without meaning to, but now I was angry, and I couldn't control myself. "Don't talk about Tommy like that!" I ordered. "If it weren't for him, you wouldn't even be here!"

She pushed me away again, reaching for the necklace I'd given her as it laid strung through her bracelet and yanking it out. She threw it at me, speaking barely above a whisper. "Maybe that would've been best for everyone," she cried, turning and leaving without another word.

I stood still without thinking or feeling and seeing anything but where she'd been standing. I knelt to the floor of the alcove and picked up the necklace, thinking about everything she'd said and wondering how I was supposed to fix this. I looked up to see Thomas there, but he didn't say anything, putting up his reading pad and then moving back out to the mat to lay down. I couldn't let Ava think I didn't care about her. I couldn't let her think I'd only ever helped her because I felt sorry for her or wanted to make up for letting Tommy down. Suddenly all her words from the last time we'd fought came flooding back, and I couldn't let her think any of what Tu'San had told her changed how I felt about her.

I left the alcove without really thinking of where I was going, but I had to find Ava. I had to do everything I could to explain even if that meant getting down on my knees and begging for her to forgive me. Nothing short of that would probably work, and I was willing to do it for as long as it took for her to understand that I loved her, that I was an idiot and that I was more sorry for lying to her than I'd ever been before.

But when I got to the ground to find her, I couldn't see her anywhere. There were still people moving around, and it looked like some of them had heard me and Ava yelling even from down here. I stopped a young boy Thomas' age just after getting to the ground, hoping he'd seen her.

"Did you see Ava?" I asked him softly.

He shook his head. "No, _olo'eyktan._"

I moved away from him further out into the village without seeing her and hoping she hadn't left without someone with her. I stopped an older hunter before getting to the grove, still looking around for her.

"Did Ava come this way?" I asked the young girl.

She shook her head. "No, she did not, _olo'eyktan._"

I stepped into the grove then, seeing the _pa'li_ grazing and wondering exactly where Ava could've gone. I absently counted the animals nearby, accounting for all of them and hoping that meant she was just outside the village.

"Jakesully," Taw'biht called from the edge of the grove.

I turned to see him there with Kalin and Rey'sik, and I hurried to them hoping they'd seen Ava. "Have you seen Ava?"

Taw'biht looked at Kalin and Rey'sik, pausing for half a minute and then looking at me. "We have. She was very . . . upset. She would not say what was wrong. She is all right?"

I inhaled deeply, still looking around. "We kind of had an argument," I told him. "And I'm afraid if she leaves the village now, something bad will happen to her."

"She was walking to the north side of the village last we saw her," Kalin revealed to me. "We will come with you."

"No," I told them. "I need you to stay here in case she comes back. I'll be all right. Just keep an eye out for her. Please."

Kalin looked at Taw'biht, and they nodded before Rey'sik spoke to me.

"Tu'San told her you did not want her to go through with her _uniltaron_," he said softly. "He say you went to _tsahik_ and request her to change rules for Ava. He say you prevent her from making own choice for mate. Is this true?"

"I was scared," I told him. "I was afraid she would be hurt, and I acted selfishly. And that was wrong. But that was my truth to tell her. Not his. And I want you to tell me everything else he said while you were out hunting today."

He looked at Taw'biht and Kalin, staring for a half minute before he looked at me and nodded.

The first thing I did after talking to Rey'sik was find Eyreal even though I knew it was getting late. She was sitting with Mo'at, and when they saw me, they both rose to greet me. I didn't really have a lot of time for formalities, but with what I knew I was about to do, I needed both of them to understand, and the more time went by, the more I was losing to find Ava and get her back to the village before it was too late.

"I need to speak with you both," I said to them softly, looking around and hoping Tu'San was nowhere nearby. "It's about Ava, and it's important. She and I argued, and I think she's left the village. I need you to look after Thomas, because I can't let her stay out there by herself, and I have to explain to her everything he's twisted around."

"Who has 'twisted' around what?" Eyreal asked.

"Tu'San," Mo'at said before I could, and Eyreal looked at her. Mo'at looked at me, continuing without me saying anything to her. "He came to me yesterday. I explained to him the circumstances of Avamelia's _uniltaron_. I told him of Jakesully's desire for her to forego the task for her safety. But I also said it was still her choice, and part of that meant she could not go through with it until she knew all the consequences. I was content with accepting her into our people without it, but Tu'San was insistent. I believe this is what you have argued over with her. Tu'San told Avamelia of our discussion, did he not?"

I felt my nostrils flare angrily as I bowed my head. "I didn't mean to keep it from her," I admitted. "But she was more conflicted than I'd ever seen her. And she was so desperate to fit in. All I wanted was for her to feel like this was her home. Like I was her home and she didn't need some vision to tell her that. And I was scared she wouldn't survive. I have to explain this to her, and I'm afraid I might not get the chance if I don't find her and get her back here before she gets hurt. So will you please both watch Thomas while I'm gone? Keep him safe."

"He is my grandchild," Mo'at informed me. "There is no need for you to ask. Now go."

I looked at Eyreal, bowing my head and returning to my alcove to get the things I would need in the event that Ava wandered into another clan's territory. Thomas was still asleep, and I didn't disturb him, certain now that Mo'at would come up here to stay with him once I was gone. I'd since secured Ava's necklace around my own neck to keep from losing it and hoping I got the chance to put it back on her once I found her, and I made it back to the ground before another ten minutes could pass. I didn't tell anyone where I was going, and no one asked. I disappeared into the dark forest before anyone could stop me, using all the skills I'd accumulated over the last eleven years to find Ava. I followed her scent and the pull I felt for her north away from the village, keeping my eyes on everything around me with careful precision. I kept an eye on everything behind me too, making sure no one was following me.

The bioluminescence of the forest was the only light I had to guide my feet even as my sense of smell and my tracking skills led me most of the way, and I found her footprints almost half and hour after leaving the village. This part was the easy part. I knew I could find her. I'd been tracking at night for over ten years, and it wouldn't be too long before I caught up to her. But I knew the hard part would be when I actually did find her. I hoped I got to her before she was found by another clan. I hoped I got to her before she got hurt.

I'm not really sure how long I walked, but I moved faster than I'd ever really moved in all my life. The feeling that I was running out of time intensified the further along the forest floor I got, and when I heard foliage move behind me, I stopped, thinking I hadn't paid enough attention to my surroundings. I withdrew my knife, crouching low to the ground and getting ready to meet whatever or whoever had followed me. I had no idea what I would do, but I wasn't going to let this slow me down. I wasn't going to let anything keep me from finding Ava.

I knew not to yell out, getting a little closer to the noise and then watching the leaves and brush part to reveal Eyreal as she inched toward me with her own hunting knife drawn. I was surprised to see her, even though I should've expected her to want to help me find Ava. When she realized that I had stopped and waited, she sighed softly, moving closer to me as I rose slowly.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed softly.

"Wherever you find her, you will need help," she said defiantly. "And who better to help you than your best huntress?"

I sighed heavily, looking around and feeling something bad about to happen on the horizon. "Keep up," I told her. "And keep quiet."

She said nothing as we moved forward together, remaining close and looking around to keep an eye on our surroundings.

It didn't take long for me to get a strong feeling of déjà vu, like I'd done this before and was moving toward a very familiar place. There was a deep sense that I was moving toward something that would haunt me for the rest of my life, and the first time I smelled the air and knew for sure I was on the right track, the strangest thing happened as this sharp, radiating pain exploded in my gut and forced me to my knees. Eyreal stopped behind me, holding onto me even as I clawed at the ground.

"Jake," she whispered. "What is wrong?"

"I don't know," I groaned, feeling the pain spread into my chest and reach my shoulders before it settled into the base of my neck. "I've never felt this before. But I can smell Ava. I can smell her blood. She's hurt!"

I watched Eyreal look around us, and I struggled to do the same against the excruciating pain in my gut. I couldn't really see anything, but it was obvious that I was channeling something stronger than me. I'd had a dream about this, about this pain, but I realized now that it hadn't been a dream at all. I'd been shown all this for a very good reason, and now the reason was obvious. Ava was hurt. She'd been captured, and it was very possible she was being hurt right now. I was too late.

"We cannot remain here," Eyreal whispered urgently. "We must keep moving. Where do you sense her?"

I inhaled deeply, or as deeply as I could without it hurting worse than it already did. "Straight ahead."

She wrapped her arms around the middle of my body, lifting me to my feet and making me lean on her as we moved forward through the thick brush of the forest. It took another several minutes for me to get my bearings back, and even though I could still felt a dull ache in my gut, I was able to walk on my own two feet by the time we saw the fires ahead of us. War cries polluted the air, and I crouched to the ground again, pulling Eyreal behind me and coming up on the nearest clan to Hometree.

"_Tipani,"_ she whispered.

I suddenly understood the dreams I'd been having. I didn't think it was possible for things like this to happen, but everything I'd seen and everything I'd felt had been meant to prepare me for this. And now that I was here, I knew exactly what to do. The perimeter was a lot less secure than it should've been, and it was easy for me and Eyreal to get a lot closer than it should've been. The people moving around never saw us, and I preferred it that way. Even with the fire pit and the food scents filling the air, I could still smell Ava. I knew she was here somewhere.

I turned to Eyreal. "Stay hidden," I told her. "And wait for my signal. I have to find her and make sure she's still alive." Chills slid over my shoulders at my last words, and Eyreal laid her hands over my face.

"She is safe," she assured me. "You will find her. I will wait here."

I inhaled again, looking around and then looking at her before I nodded and stepped away from her slowly.

I kept my eyes on the people around me, making my way around the edge of the gathering and smelling the air again. I got closer to where I felt Ava's presence, and I saw a small tent on the west edge of the gathering that was being guarded by two hunters. I decided that was the best place to start, and I would've gotten there unnoticed had another hunter about my size not crossed my path and tried to make my presence known to everyone else.

I was faster than he was, drawing my knife before he could open his mouth and driving the blade deep into his gut without another thought. I pulled him to the ground out of everyone's sight before he had a chance to fight me, slashing his throat and dragging him into the bushes before I continued on my way toward the tent where I was sure they were holding Ava. I didn't doubt for a single moment she was there, especially with as determined these hunters had been for the last four months in either trying to kill her or at least taking her from our clan members on her excursions out of the village for hunting and scouting.

I was almost seen by a female hunter moving through the gathering, but I didn't want to hurt her even though I was sure she wouldn't hesitate to hurt me, so I did everything I possibly could to keep her from seeing me. In the end, I had to knock her unconscious to prevent her from seeing me as I approached the tent being guarded. I hid her out of sight, finally reaching the tent I was moving toward and hiding behind it as a group of hunters approached it and stepped inside.

A slit up the side allowed me to see inside, and what I saw turned my blood cold. There, tied to a post a lot like the one I'd been tied to the day I'd revealed my mission to Neytiri, I saw Ava hanging by her arms as the four hunters in front of her took turns hitting her and groping at her body. I tried to stay calm so they couldn't know what I was about to do, but I lost it, taking my knife and cutting at the hide covering the tent to make my entrance behind them. The first one who noticed me barely had a chance to fight me as I grabbed his head and twisted it fast, breaking his neck instantly. He dropped to the ground as the second hunter turned to see me there, and I grasped my knife in one hand, taking him on with the other as he lunged at me with his own knife.

I wasted time fighting him, slashing his stomach and making a stab at his chest to hit his lung. He gasped for air as I withdrew the knife and drove it into his gut with barely a pause, and his eyes went wide as he fell to the ground. One of the other two hunters grabbed me from behind, while the other hunter tried to hit with his own knife. I struggled, causing the hunter behind me to stumble and allowing the knife meant for my own gut to simply nick the side of my ribs. The hunter attacking me tried again, punching me in the stomach and then shoving his knee into my lower abdomen. The one holding me dropped me, probably meaning to join his clanmate in the beating that would've proceeded, but I was ready, still grasping onto my knife and lunging toward the hunter who'd tried to stab me and ramming the blade of my own knife deep into his throat and up into his skull. He was dead instantly.

The last hunter tried to leave the tent to alert his clan of an attack, but I stopped him, grabbing him by the neck and getting him in a choke hold for as long as it took to make his whole body go slack in my arms. I threw him down then, hurrying to Ava as she hung by her arms with most of the decoration and clothes she'd been wearing before either ripped off or shredded on the ground. She was covered in blood, and I could see cuts and bruises covering every part of her body. I couldn't believe so much could've been done in such a short period of time, but I honestly had no concept of how long I'd walked to get here. For all I knew, they'd been waiting for her at the edge of our village to grab her.

I touched her face, and she inhaled deep, lifting her head until I could see her face. She could barely keep her eyes open. "Shh," I whispered. "It's okay. I'm here. You're okay. I'm gonna get you out of here."

"Jake?" she whispered, her face contorted in pain as she began to cry. "Jake."

"It's okay," I promised, taking my knife and reaching up to cut her bonds. Her legs gave immediately, and I caught her in my arms before I turned to leave through the entrance I'd made. But I realized we weren't alone as the main instigator of all Ava's trouble stepped through the opening with his knife drawn and three other hunters with him.

I held onto Ava as tightly as I could, looking over her body and seeing deep gashes in her chest and abdomen. I clenched my jaws, lifting my eyes to his as he moved closer to us, knowing what they'd tried to do and feeling not only fury but disgust and bewilderment. It seemed only their most horrible torture and beating was reserved for the things they didn't understand and didn't believe was worthy of existence. I was surprised they hadn't cut her queue from the base of her skull.

"Don't do this," I told him. "You've caused enough damage."

He grinned at me, baring his teeth and looking at the others with him. _"Ke nìtam,"_ he said, nodding at them to move around the tent to surround me and Ava. "Just getting started."

Just as the three other hunters began their trek around the tent, one of them fell down instantly, revealing a poisonous dart sticking out of the back of his neck, and the hunter meaning to hurt Ava further looked back at the entrance. I held Ava tighter, looking behind him and seeing Eyreal there with an arrow notched in her bow directed at him. He turned to face her, obviously not threatened by her presence as he signaled for the other two to continue toward where I was steadily trying to get out of their way. Eyreal moved swiftly, releasing her bow on the one to my right and hitting him in his upper left chest to take him down. The hunter closest to her turned to me, still holding his knife and making his way toward me as the last hunter on his group attempted to hold me in place.

Eyreal quickly notched another arrow, aiming for the one beside him and hitting him in the back of the neck, and he let out a pained cry I was sure would garner the attention of more people. I backed up more, holding Ava as close to me as I could while still watching the hunter still left. The whole width of the tent separated him from Eyreal as he stood in front of me, and I could see a maniacal grin on his face as he turned to her with his knife ready. I didn't want to let Ava out of my sight, but I couldn't let this guy hurt Eyreal, laying Ava on the ground and hurrying forward with less than a minute to spare as he reached for Eyreal and almost slit her throat as my arm came around his neck to restrain him.

"Looks like you're outnumbered again," I growled at him, grabbing the hair on his head and causing him to grimace as my fingers wrapped around the base of his queue coming out of the crown of his head. I knew from experience that this hurt worse than getting kicked in the groin, and when he tried to pull away, I held him tighter. "You're not worth the spit in my mouth," I hissed at him. "And you're not worth the energy this is going to take, but maybe you'll get the message this time."

I squeezed his neck as tight as I could, feeling him try to fight me and surprised when Eyreal rushed forward to drive her own knife into his gut. He stopped struggling, and I dropped him to the ground to hurry back to Ava. She was unconscious now, but I lifted her in my arms to carry her out the back of the tent as the rest of the people gathered continued on about their business. We slipped into the darkness before anymore people could see us, and I didn't stop to think about what was going to happen after what I'd just done. As far as I was concerned, everything that had just happened was justified.

Eyreal and I hurried through the foliage back toward Hometree, stopping about halfway there and laying Ava over the ground to see how much she was hurt. We couldn't risk shedding anymore light around us to see better, so all I had to see with was the glowing grass and trees around us to see Ava's face and the rest of her body. Her eyes were almost swollen shut, and both her nose and mouth were bloody like she'd been punched hard. There were fresh bruises and cuts all over her chest and stomach along with a deep gash from the bottom of her ribs to her hip bone.

"They cut her open," I whispered, horrified at the amount of blood covering her body and the fact that she was completely naked.

"We must get back to the protection of the village," Eyreal pleaded, her voice shaking with fear and shock as she saw what I saw.

I tried to concentrate on getting her home, lifting her in my arms again and resolving to make the person truly responsible for this pay for it extensively. Whatever happened after that, I didn't care anymore.

The last half of the walk was quiet, and it was well after midnight when we made it back to the village. But I was surprised to discover more people on the ground there than had been when I'd left. The hunters on the outer skirts nodded at me through the trees, and I met several more on the ground as I made my way to the center where I knew the majority of people were waiting. Apparently in my absence, Mo'at had requested them all to a gathering, almost like she'd known they would need to see this for themselves. But what surprised me most of all was the fact that Tu'San was standing next to Mo'at and watching me get closer, like none of it was his fault.

I carried Ava to where he was, laying her on the ground and stepping up in front of him. "I hope you're happy," I spat. "Because this is all your fault."

He scoffed, looking around at everyone gathered there. "My fault? You are the one who lied to her. You are the one who wanted to control her existence here. And you're the one who — "

"They cut her open!" I screamed in his face unsure if he understood and refusing to care. "Don't you get that? Can't you see it? They ripped her open! Because she looked different! Because she was scared," I exclaimed.

Eyreal translated for me without any prompting, having settled next to Ava on the ground, and the realization in his face was enough for me to lower my voice.

"No matter what I did, and no matter what I said to you, nothing is worth this. No one deserves this. She was innocent, and any problems you had with me, you take them out on me! You had no right to do this. I was gonna tell her everything when she was ready, but now." I paused, inhaling and exhaling before I went on. "Now, she's gonna die because of you. God only knows what I'm gonna do to you when that happens. That God isn't as forgiving as yours is."

Eyreal, still translating my words, finished a few seconds after I did, but I could see from the look on his face that he understood more than he was letting on.

"_Ma_ Jake," Eyreal called, immediately drawing attention to herself as she called me by a name only Neytiri ever had. "She breathes."

I stepped away from Tu'San, hurrying to Ava as she laid over the roots of the tree where I'd laid her. I took her hand in mine, feeling her squeeze my hand as I whispered to her. "Ava. I'm here. It's okay. It's Jake," I pleaded, easing my fingertips over her cheek.

Her skin was burning from all the blood touching the surface of her face, and it was clear the bastards who'd found her in the woods had beaten her pretty badly before taking a knife to her gut, but I could now see defensive wounds on her hands and arms, so I knew she'd at least gotten in a few punches herself before they'd overpowered her. But she was so weak. She could barely open her eyes.

Immediately, I knew what to do despite the possibility having not occurred to me until now. "Go call Norm," I told Eyreal urgently. "We have to get her back to the base. Now."

She left before anyone could stop her, and I looked at Mo'at as she still stood by silently.

"You'll need more hunters to watch the village tonight," I told her, and she nodded. "I think I killed and injured ten or twelve of them, but I'm not sure. And they could've followed us to a certain point."

She said nothing, and I returned to Ava to lift her in my arms. She stirred softly, groaning and grasping on my hand as I sat there waiting for Eyreal. In nearly a year, I'd become accustomed to having the her and Ava in my life. I wasn't ready to lose one of them. Not because of something I'd done that could've been prevented.

"Jake," she whispered, so softly I barely heard her. "I'm sorry . . . I left."

I touched her face, laying my fingers over her lips. "No, it's okay," I swore to her, keeping my face as close to hers as I could to hear her breathing. Then I lifted my eyes to look at Tu'San. "It's not your fault."

He bowed his head shamefully, finally understanding the full consequences of his actions.

Eyreal returned, calling to me urgently. "He is on his way," she promised. "He said it would be a few hours."

"We should go now," I said, adjusting Ava's body in my arms and rising slowly. She groaned again, and I held her as close to me as I could without hurting her more. I glanced at Mo'at, and she urged me on before I began my trek through the people already gathered around us.

We walked passed Tu'San, but I didn't look at him. I couldn't. I knew if I did I would get angry again. I didn't want to move Ava anymore than I had to, and he wasn't worth it anymore.

"Jakesully," he said softly. I stopped, still not looking at him. "I am sorry," he said, loud enough so everyone could hear him.

I breathed in as deep as I could, thinking of when I'd lost Grace because of some stupid thing I couldn't control and knowing how that had ended. I couldn't fight him now, not for this and not to make me feel better about losing her. It would only make things worse, and I had to had to show more maturity than he had.

"Good," I said simply, moving forward with Eyreal behind me.

We got a few more meters away, and I held onto Ava tighter without meeting anyone else's eyes until another voice called to us.

"Jakesully."

I turned to see Rey'sik and Taw'biht coming toward me and Eyreal.

"We wish to come with you," Rey'sik said softly.

I didn't hesitate, nodding. "Keep up," I told them.

They both bowed their heads, and with that, we all left the village together.

Thomas caught up to us before we got too far away, but he never spoke, walking beside Eyreal as she kept a good distance behind me. For a few minutes while I walked with Ava in my arms, I felt bad not having thought of him in all this except to make sure he was asleep when I'd left. But at least he'd been safe here in the village. It wasn't his blood staining my skin. A lot of it was Ava's.

I had to walk slow, and no one talked. At this rate, it _would_ take a few hours to get to the clearing where Norm usually landed, and at that thought, I turned to Eyreal as she still walked behind me.

"Did you bring the throat mike and ear piece?" I asked her softly.

She moved to my side quickly, extracting what I needed from a pouch and then easily moving forward to strap the throat mike around my neck and slipping the ear piece into my ear.

"Thanks," I said with a bow of my head. "I'm gonna need you to help me use it. When we get closer, I'll show you how, okay?"

She nodded silently, lowering her eyes to Ava and gazing at her sadly before she took my arms in her hands to urge me on while she glanced back at the others withe us. None of them said anything, following us silently.

"Jake," Ava whispered as we walked.

I slowed my pace a little more, holding her closer. "Yeah?"

"I want my mother," she pleaded, grasping onto my hands tighter as tears continued to fall from her eyes.

I pressed my forehead to hers, feeling my heart in my throat as I spoke. "I know," I said softly.

Any hopes I'd had of getting to the clearing safely began to diminish the minute I heard the foliage around us shift with movement. We were still within our borders, but that wouldn't stop any bold hunters from the nearest clan — who'd incidently caused all of Ava's injuries — or any animals from attacking us. But the closer I looked, I could see glowing green eyes and the quick movements of a pack of _nantang_. I remembered everything Ava had shown me from her time in the forest, and I realized they weren't there to attack us. They were all following her.

We were barely a quarter of the way there when Eyreal insisted we stop so she could give Ava some of the water she'd brought. An hour had passed, and we still had a lot of walking to do. But I stopped, kneeling to the ground near a grove of mushrooms that towered over our heads and lit the ground gently as Taw'biht and Rey'sik oriented themselves around us to keep watch while Thomas moved to my side. Eyreal lifted a water bladder to Ava's lips, only giving her a little and then sitting back silently.

"Will she die like _ma sa'nok_?" Thomas asked softly.

I glanced at him, cradling Ava in my arms and wanted desperately to tell him everything was going to be okay. But she'd already lost a lot of blood, and I knew there was no guarantee that Norm could even help her. But I couldn't go through this again. I couldn't survive losing another person in my life like this, no matter how short a time she'd been a part of it. "I don't know," I told Thomas gently. I looked at Ava. "We just need to get her to Norm."

Eyreal scooted closer to me, pulling the water bladder over her head and speaking gently. "One of us should make _tsaheylu_ with her," she said, prompting me to lift my eyes to hers. "It will help to know all her injuries for Norm when he arrives. And it will give her strength. You are her mate, Jake. I understand this. But I am her sister. I can help her."

I looked at Ava again, discovering her eyes now relatively open as she looked at me and silently asking her if she was strong enough for something like that. She held onto me tighter and nodded. So I looked at Eyreal and nodded in turn.

She slowly took her own braided queue, stroking the back of Ava's head and gently lifting her braid until the tendrils of her queue were visible. Eyreal's eyes met mine then, and she allowed her own queue to connect with Ava's.

The reaction from Ava was immediate as she gasped sharply, grimacing in pain and allowing more tears to fall from her eyes. "Rea," she cried.

I held onto her tighter. "Stop," I pleaded, losing control of my voice. "She's not strong enough. Please."

The look on Eyreal's face said different as she smiled slightly and reached for Ava while I still held her. "No, it is fine," she promised me. "She is fine. You must have faith, Jake."

I looked at Ava helplessly, wishing there was more I could do, but before I could stay anything else, Rey'sik spoke up.

"We must go," he pressed. "We are not safe here."

To that I agreed, and apparently, so did Eyreal as she rose with me and remained close while keeping her connection with Ava intact.

"Quickly," she urged, how holding onto me and pushing me ahead of her as the others followed behind us.

After Eyreal connected with Ava, I felt better about moving faster with her even though she was still weak, and while it still took us a little longer to make it than I would have liked, the instant I heard the Samson coming in for her landing, I regained a little bit of hope that everything would be okay.

"_Jake,"_ Norm called over the comm. _"How far out are you?"_

I nodded to Eyreal, and she hurried, lifting her fingers to the nodes around my throat and then pushing like I'd shown her while we'd been stationary. "Maybe fifteen minutes," I told him. "I can hear you."

"_We're coming in for our landing now."_ He paused, it seemed to collect his own voice. _"How is she?"_

I looked at Ava, still walking and holding her closer to me. "It's bad, Norm," I said. "But she's breathing, and she's semi-conscious."

"_We'll see you in a few,"_ he said after a few seconds.

I nodded to Eyreal, and she lowered her hand, silently urging me to go a little faster.

As soon as we got into the clearing, I made a point of getting Eyreal to release Ava since I wasn't sure what all Norm would need to do. He and Lisa were in the back of the Samson while Alex sat in the pilot's seat, and once I was close enough, I laid Ava inside the hull, shouting over the rotors which were still turning to keep animals away.

"She was tied up when I found her," I told him as he pulled out a scanner and immediately did a pass over her torso where most of the blood was. "She was mostly unconscious then, and I don't know how long they were able to hold her there. It's been over five hours since then. Norm, please tell me you can fix this."

He said nothing, taking measurements and shining a light in Ava's eyes before he injected Ava with a shot of what I hoped was something for her pain.

"Norm," I said again. "Please."

He glanced up at me, his expression blank as he regarded me still without uttering a word. I reached out and grabbed his shirt, making him look at me.

"Norm!"

"Back off, Jake!" he yelled. "Or I'll leave you here!"

I let go of him slowly, looking at Lisa as she observed silently and then bowing my head.

"I have to stabilize her," Norm shouted over the rotors. "Otherwise, she isn't going anywhere. Just wait, okay?"

I looked at Ava, knowing she needed someone who could help her in a way the healers in the village wouldn't know how and then nodding. "Okay."

Even over the noise, Norm worked more feverishly than I'd ever seen him, wrapping a bandage around Ava's torso from her hips to her collarbones and making an IV to give her fluids before he lifted his eyes to mine.

"She needs blood," he told me. "It doesn't look good, Jake. But we'll get her to the base and see what we can do. Get on."

With that, I helped Eyreal and Thomas into the hull while Taw'biht and Rey'sik climbed in on the other side and strapped in before Norm signaled to Alex for them to lift off. It was already in the very early hours of the morning now, and so much time had passed. I sat next to Ava while Norm worked over her, silently praying for the first time since Neytiri had died that it wouldn't happen again. But all I could do was wait.

* * *

**Whew! If you read all that, you deserve a medal! *medal ceremony to be held at a later date* That was a long damn chapter, but if you're all the way down here, then you've come all the way with me, and I'll give you a little heads up that there is now a light at the end of the tunnel. How can I possibly say this? You'll see!**

**And before anyone berates me for hurting Ava, anyone who's been paying attention should know this was coming. What, with the attacks and Jake's dream, surely someone has to have figured it out by now. Right? Right?**

**Anyway, enough of me. On with the definitions!**

**_Ikran - _These are Mountain Banshees**

**_Olo'eyktan - _Clan Leader (This is Jake, in case you didn't know)**

**_pa'li - _These are horses the size of Elephants, more commonly called direhorse by us Sky People**

**_ma sa'nok - _Mother**

**_Srane, sa'nu - _Yes, mommy.**

_**Pehrr oe tswayeron nìpxi**_ -** Loosely, "Especially when I'm flying."**

_**Uniltìranyu**_ -**Dreamwalker**

**_Oel ngati kameie - _I See you, a common Na'vi greeting, meaning to see into someone, to understand them**

_**Nìmun**_ **- Again (as a name)  
**

_**Letam**_ -**Sufficient (as a name)  
**

_**Rangal**_ **- Wish (as a name)**

_** aysrr mevosìng**_ - **Twenty days**

_**lenay'ga**_ -** Slinger**

_**riti -**_**Stingbat**

_**Kilvan**_ -** River**

**_nivi - _Common word for "hammock"**

_**iknimaya**_ **- Stairway to Heaven; Rite of Passage for Hunters to claim their own ikran**

**_Uniltaron - _Dream Hunt; Rite of passage into Adulthood**

_**Tshahìk**_ -** Matriarch; Interpreter for Eywa**

**_Tipani -_ Clan name (These are the Bad Guys)**

_**Ke nìtam**_ **- Not enough.**

**_Ma _Jake - Proper address in respect to person being spoken to. The _Ma_ is like saying "O" in Shakespear.**

**_nantang - _viperwolf (armored little dogs - well not little)**

**_tsaheylu_ - the bond, which is not only for mates, but families also**

**

* * *

**

**Lots of definitions! Yikes! Okay. That's all for this time, and I know I said this last time, but I'm going to try and preempt myself and say I will do everything humanly possible to get the next chapter out in a timely manner, but I make no promises.**

**Sorry for a bit of a cliffhanger, but it's how I always meant it to be, and you'll just have to stay tuned.**

**Until next time, Keep Calm & Carry On! I love you all!  
**


	29. Discovery & Assessment

**So late Christmas Present, as it were, since it took me a little longer than I'd hoped to get this out to everybody. This chapter was a long time coming, even though that doesn't mean I've had it written for a while, because I haven't.**

**Also, have you ever had a character that you introduced a while back who seemed insignificant, one who you were sure was finished in the story and had done their part, so you didn't even think about what they could continue to contribute, and then this part just jumps out at you and snaps you in the face?**

**This chapter has such a character, and I was really surprised when I came to this revelation, and I hope you're surprised as well.**

**Now, on with the reading!  
**

* * *

_**Discovery & Assessment**_

Over the course of the few hours it took to get back to the base, Norm and Eyreal seemed to whisper the whole way — both in English and in Na'vi. I picked up on a few of their words, but they were whispering so softly. I had to strain to pick up the words I did, and I didn't want to take any more of my attention from Ava than I absolutely had to, so after a little while, I ignored them and focused on her as she laid over the hull bed of the Samson. It got bumpy, and I had to keep her still every time I felt her whimper. Norm strapped her in halfway into the flight, lifting his eyes to mine, and I didn't need him to say anything. I could see it in his eyes. I knew it wasn't good.

We were close to base when he called up to Alex through the throat mike around his own neck.

"Call ahead to Max," he ordered. "I need a trauma bed ready to get her into the Ambient room, and I'm gonna need more bandages. New scanners and a lot of antiseptic. I want Helen and David on the lawn before we land, and tell them we've got a pretty deep knife wound that needs to be taken care of before we do anything else."

I looked up at Alex, seeing him nod, and then I looked at Ava again. I discovered her eyes open, and she lifted her hand to my face.

"Jake," she whispered.

I lifted my hand to hers, leaning in as close as I could without being on top of her. "I'm here," I promised. "I'm not going anywhere."

"What did you do?" she pleaded. "I know you did something."

I felt my face heat up as blood rushed to my cheeks and my heart jumped into my throat. "I did what I had every right to do," I insisted. "Those hunters had no right even touching you, and they deserved exactly what they got. Ava, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you the truth about all of this. I was just so scared of you getting hurt, and I was selfish. You have every right to be mad at me. In fact, I'd feel even worse if you weren't. I promise after this, I'm never gonna let anything happen to you. I won't ever lie to you, not even about the smallest thing."

She caressed the mound of my cheek. "I know."

It got quiet for a few minutes as I sat there, and I looked around outside to see the base coming into view just as Norm spoke over the wind.

"We have to lift her up just before the ship touches down," he told me. "We can't jostle her at all. She's not being held together by anything but sheer force of will, and I — we can't risk her losing anymore blood."

I looked around more, watching the base get closer and then looking at him. I nodded silently, waiting for him to give the signal.

Our descent was slow, and even from the inside of the Samson's hull, I could see Max, Helen and David already on the lawn with everything Norm was gonna need to help Ava. I still had no clue what he planned to do out here on the South Lawn, but I did everything in my power to remind myself not to get in his way. Alex touched down as gently as he could, and when Norm motioned for it, we unstrapped Ava from the hull bed and lifted her until she was a few inches in the air. Norm got out first, and I followed with Eyreal, Thomas, Taw'biht and Rey'sik close behind. I laid Ava over the mat already there and resigned myself to the farthest corner even though I could still see everything they were doing as David ignited halogen lamps to illuminate their operating area.

Eyreal sat beside me, watching with me as Helen and David worked to see how much damage had been done to Ava's body. It took a few minutes for the rotors on the Samson to die down, and when they did, Alex came up to where we were all waiting. Max's voice was more audible than the others, and I zoned in on him without thinking about it.

"Blood pressure's 120 over 65," he reported diligently. "Pulse is 70. Helen, watch the other IV before you give her anymore pain meds. We don't want to give her too much, or she'll slip deeper into shock. David, how's the suture coming?"

"There's a lot of damage to the muscle," he said softly, lifting his eyes to mine and then looking at Max. "And whatever they cut her with nicked her intestines. Two of her abdominal blood vessels have been severed, and she's lost a lot of blood. We don't have enough samples to synthesize more for a transfusion. Without the right fluids, we can repair it, but there's no guarantee that she'll heal."

Max looked at me then, and he stared for a minute before flicking his hand at Norm's shoulder and pointing in my direction. "You better tell him."

Norm looked at me, glancing back at Lisa and then rising to move in front of me as I sat beside Eyreal. Thomas sat at my other side, his head bowed sadly, and when Norm cleared his throat to beckon me to him, I rose slowly to meet him halfway. I knelt in front of him more so I wouldn't have to look down than to make him comfortable, and he glanced at Max before he spoke softly.

"We've got a lot of work to do," he said. "And it's not going to be easy without giving her a blood transfusion. Whatever they cut her open with did a lot of damage, and . . . I'm sorry, Jake."

"Can I give her blood?" I asked, which should've been a stupid thing to ask since I knew I didn't have enough human DNA in me to help her.

"Unfortunately, Jake, no, you can't," Norm said matter-of-factly. "I wish you could. But we would have to synthesize enough to keep her under surgery for several hours with all the damage, and we just don't have the supplies. But we're going to do everything we can with what we have. I swear."

I glanced at Eyreal and Thomas, and I didn't know what to say, looking at Norm and nodding.

"We're going to take her inside in a minute," Norm said, trying to sound at least a little optimistic. "Go take a shower and then come in. I promise I'll take care of her."

I bowed my head silently, balling my hands into fists and clenching my jaws. I hadn't felt so angry in almost a year — not since finding Neytiri's body on the forest floor. I hadn't even been given the chance the say goodbye to her. She'd already been dead when we'd found her — with at least four or five lengths of snapped limbs already punctured through her torso and then one in her neck. The image burned through my brain as I was forced to remember it, and nothing had ever been so gruesome since then. Not until now. I was responsible for this, the same way I'd been responsible for Neytiri. It was all my fault.

Norm moved away slowly, and I lifted my eyes to see him and David covering Ava with a blanket and then lifting the trauma bed to carry her inside without moving her too much. He looked at me just before they began their journey across the lawn, but he didn't say anything. He just nodded. I watched them until they were all inside, rising to my feet and moving to where Eyreal and Thomas were waiting. They looked at me expectantly, but I didn't know what to say, bowing my head again. Eyreal lifted her hand to my face, making me look at her and then nudging me on toward the long-house where I could take a shower.

I bathed mechanically, my brain already disconnected from the rest of my body. The smell was almost too much to handle, even as it drained through the bottom of the shower stall. All the things I'd been wearing before, my knife, my collar, even my loincloth had been soaked in Ava's blood. It was all useless now. I didn't want any of it to be cleaned or repaired. I hadn't made any noise all the way to the house. I hadn't even greeted Letam, but I was sure Eyreal was telling him and the others what had happened. I didn't really care if anyone else was sorry for what had happened to Ava. All I cared about was getting back to her before they took her to surgery — if it was possible for her to even survive surgery. With the way David had been talking, it didn't even look like she was going to last long enough for them to get her to the operating theater.

I found clothes waiting for me when I left the shower, and I got dressed in the jogging pants and t-shirt without looking around me, leaving the long-house barefoot and finding Eyreal at the foot of the steps waiting for me. I didn't say anything to her, allowing her to pull me across the courtyard to the entrance of the Ambient room as it stood open waiting for me. I could hear Norm and Max inside, and when I stepped into the small space, they both looked at me. I hadn't seen Max in a week, since he'd been working in the lab on something else important. It felt good to know that Ava took precedence over whatever he'd been working on. Lisa was getting equipment ready, and David and Helen were pulling on surgical gowns. They all glanced at me in their preparations, but none of them said anything. I didn't know what they were thinking about doing, but having me there was probably going to make them nervous, and I didn't want to cause them to mess up.

"Do I need to go?" I asked softly.

"Don't be ridiculous," Norm said. "She's your mate. We're just getting ready to do some more scans. Talk to her. It's okay."

He and Max went back to what they were doing, and I glanced at Eyreal before kneeling at Ava's side as she laid over the gurney semi-conscious. She turned her head to look at me, lifting her hand to my face again and whispering.

"Looks like we shouldn't have left," she said with a weak grin.

I lifted my hand to hers, closing my eyes and leaning into her hand. "Looks that way," I whispered. "But you're gonna be okay. Norm's gonna fix you up."

She didn't say anything, lifting her other hand to my cheek and wiping away the tear I hadn't even realized was falling from my eye.

Norm turned to face her then with a scanner in his hands, lifting his eyes to mine and then smiling at her. "Okay," he said. "Just lie as still as you can. This shouldn't take long. I promise."

He switched the scanner on, moving it over her torso and then her abdomen. It beeped several times, and he made four or five passes before the smile on his face faded slightly. He pushed a series of buttons and ran another scan, the frown on his face becoming more pronounced by the second.

"What's wrong?" I pleaded, and he looked at me.

"I'm — Um, I don't — I'm not . . . sure," he stuttered putting the scanner down and turning to Max. He whispered urgently, and Max's face paled before he took the scanner and looked at the readings himself.

"What's going on?" I demanded, and they both looked at me.

Max's face was almost completely drained of color, but he looked at Norm and kind of nodded. Norm inhaled deep, looking at Ava and then lifting his eyes to mine.

"I think I might have found a reason why they cut her open," he said grimly, looking at the scanner again to confirm whatever he'd seen.

"And exactly what reason is that other than to be completely ignorant about something they knew nothing about?" I grumbled.

"Um, you remember the talk we had right after you and Ava were mated?" he asked, swallowing and then clearing his throat gently.

The memory came to the front of my mind instantly, and I remembered how embarrassed he'd been about talking to me over the possibility of me and Ava having a baby. I felt the blood drain from my face instantly, and my head suddenly felt too heavy for my shoulders as the room began to spin uncontrollably until I was sitting back against the wall with Lisa and Helen in front of me.

"Jake, take a deep breath," Helen ordered, her voice distant and echoing around the inside of my head.

"Take it easy," Lisa pleaded.

I blacked out for a few seconds, opening my eyes and seeing both of them above me. A bright light shined in my eyes, and I moved it away, rising to sit up and seeing them standing in front of me.

"It's okay," Helen said softly, touching my shoulder and then my face. "Believe me, we weren't expecting it either. But Ava needs you to keep your cool. Do you think you can get up on your knees?"

I didn't say anything, moving my feet under me and rising to my knees to see Norm still where he'd been with an even worse look on his face now that I'd actually passed out on him. I looked at Ava, seeing she was still a little out of it, and then I looked at him again.

"Sorry," I muttered. "Could you repeat that last part please?"

He looked at the scanner and then Ava and then me. "Ava's pregnant," he said simply.

I felt a weight come down on my shoulders so hard I almost lost it again, but Eyreal moved in then, holding me up as she knelt at my side with her arms around me. I looked at Ava, at the damage done to her body, and I was confused. It had been hours since I'd found her, and she'd bled everywhere. Maybe he meant there had been chemicals in her body saying she'd _been_ pregnant. It wasn't possible for her to still _be_ pregnant with everything her body had been through. But I looked at Eyreal, seeing a small smile on her face and knowing it was true.

"You knew didn't you?" I accused, and she looked at me with wide eyes. "When you bonded with her. You felt it. That's why you said she was okay. Why didn't you tell me then?" I begged.

"It was not mine to tell," she informed me. "But her body protected the baby. It was meant this way."

"For her to die, so I could have another kid to raise on my own!" I shouted.

"Jake, calm down," Norm said.

"But you said it yourself, she won't survive surgery! How is this a good thing?"

"I said it didn't look good," he reminded me. "I also said we would do everything we could with what we have here. But don't freak out. We have new medications from the village, and we've been cataloguing them into the database. Human medicine might not be the answer, but none of us are gonna stop until we figure this out. Just stay calm. Please."

I inhaled deeply, attempting to process everything being said to me. Despite her injuries, Ava was still pregnant, and despite everything Norm had said about it being nearly impossible for her to conceive, something in her had taken the next step for it to become possible. But it had only been a few days since we'd actually mated, and I hadn't felt anything when we'd been connected. I remembered now that Ava had been a little distant the last few weeks since she'd been spending time around Tu'San, but being on the base had made her happy. Surely, she'd known she was pregnant. Why hadn't she told me anything?

"Jake," Lisa said, and I looked at her. "There's something else too."

"Lisa, don't," Max ordered.

"He needs to know," she pressed. "This is about him too. And with Ava being this bad, she needs to know with him. You and Norm have kept this a secret for too long. I know why you did it, and while that might have worked then, it won't work now. Not after all this."

"What is she talking about?" I demanded, suddenly back in the mindset I'd been in upon leaving the base the previous morning.

Max huffed then, looking at Norm, and even though I could see intense reluctance on both their faces, Norm looked at me.

"Well, I'd hoped we could get through this first," he griped, "but since Lisa's not going to keep it to herself, we don't really have a choice."

"A choice about what?" I shouted.

Norm looked at Max. "It's about Ava's mother, Amelia," he said, looking at me with the most serious expression on his face than I'd ever seen. "And about Warren Watson. I know we both saw video footage of them getting shot in the courtyard, and we both assumed they died. But that video footage was damaged from when everyone else had evacuated the base, and they weren't complete transmissions."

"What does that mean?" I asked, allowing my voice to soften slightly.

He bowed his head. "It means we were wrong," he said to me. "Amelia and Warren didn't die that night. They were badly injured, but they were found before they could die. And they're here in the lab. They've been here since that night, in stasis since their injuries couldn't be repaired completely. And we were wanting one of them ready to take out of stasis before we told you, but like I said, Lisa's not going to keep it to herself. I should've known she wouldn't have been able to."

I looked at Lisa, lifting my hands to her arms. "That's why you didn't come outside while we were here this last time," I said. "You knew you wouldn't be able to keep this from me, so you stayed inside so you wouldn't have to see me. How long have you known?"

"About a month," she said softly. "Norm told me the night before you left in September. I swear I would've told you, but Norm kept finding things for me to do in the lab. And by the time I got done, you were gone. When you came back last week, I was knee-deep in samples, and by then, I think I'd made up my mind to show you instead of just telling you."

"So it's true," I whispered. "She's really alive."

Lisa smiled for the first time since I'd seen her last. "It's true. And we're getting ready to take Warren out of stasis."

"Guys, we really need to focus," Norm said, and I looked at him more severely than I had in a while.

"You knew this the last time I was here," I told him. "Why did you keep this from me?"

He opened his mouth to argue, only to be stopped by someone I wasn't expecting at all. "Because — "

"Because I told him to," Max interrupted.

Everyone looked at him, and he glanced around the room before looking at me. He moved around to be in front of me, speaking more apologetically than he ever had.

"I found her and Warren in the courtyard that night," he told me. "Helen, David and Mitch helped me get them stabilized, but it wasn't enough. And the base was under lockdown from you and Norm and Grace escaping detention. I had no idea what was going on with them, but I knew I wasn't going to let any of those stupid guards get away with killing innocent people. And I couldn't let them die, so I made the decision to put them into cryo. I made the decision not to tell anyone, at least until we had the supplies to get them out without doing more damage."

"And now? Eleven years later?" I asked incredulously.

"Honestly? There were other pressing matters to look after on the base, and we were low on supplies as it was. And I was so preoccupied that it didn't occur to me until Ava showed up on the base in January — with you, less than two days after Neytiri had died. Believe me, it wasn't an easy decision to keep it from you, but there wasn't anything you could do. There wasn't anything any of us could do."

"How are you planning on getting them out now? If you didn't have the supplies then? Did they materialize out of thin air?

He scoffed. "Of course not, Jake. We've had to horde a lot of power cells to get their cryopods ready to be opened. This has not been an easy endeavor. But we have medicine now that will enable us to keep Warren's body temp down while we pull him out of stasis and into the operating theater to treat his wound. He still has enough human blood in him to survive the surgery, and even though it won't be easy, it'll be a lot simpler than what we might need to do for Ava."

I listened to him as carefully as I could, wondering how long they'd been planning this and then remembering something else. "The extra avatar," I said, watching Norm's face turn red instantly. "You really were lying to me about that. Why?"

"Was there really anything you were going to do if I told you we had an avatar without a conscious driver walking around?" he demanded even though his ears were bright pink.

I smiled, liking how uncomfortable I was making him, but then Eyreal pinched my arm, bringing me out of my amusement.

"He is not responsible for this," she told me. "Several of their people were trying to protect their own kind, if not in an unusual way. But clearly, they were trying to protect you as well, from guilt and anguish. You should be angry, but your anger is misplaced. You should be angry with the Sky People who tried to kill Amelia and Warren."

"Thanks," Norm said, since he obviously hadn't expected Eyreal to defend him against me.

"It is clear you meant no harm by your deceit," she conceded. "But do not attempt to do it again, as you might not fair well the next time."

He bowed his head. "Yes, ma'am."

While I enjoyed this small exchange between them, I wanted to know more about Amelia and Warren. I wanted to know their condition, and I wanted to know if it was possible for them to both come out of stasis before anything major happened to Ava. If they'd been planning it that way, surely they could try now that this had happened even though no one had been expecting it.

"Norm," I said. "You know what I'm gonna ask."

He sighed softly. "Yeah, I know. But it's gonna have to wait. We've got to get Ava stabilized for surgery, and Amelia and Warren are in a part of the lab where we need oxygen. Don't worry about it right now. They're safe, and they're not going anywhere anytime soon. Plus, we're getting Warren ready now, so it shouldn't be another few hours before we're ready to try getting him out with our new medications. Just be patient, okay? Please."

I turned all my attention to Ava as she now laid on the gurney sleeping, and I took her hand in mine, focusing completely on her as Eyreal sat behind me. "Okay," I whispered, touching her forehead gently and settling in to be there for a little while.

* * *

It was after noon before Thomas came into the Ambient room alone where Eyreal and I were still sitting with Ava, and when he presented us with a platter of fruit, I realized I'd left him outside the entire time. I hadn't even been thinking about him in this whole thing, and I knew he was hurting just as much as I was. He'd accepted Ava into his life the same way I had, and from his perspective, he was losing another member of his family.

I pulled him to my side before he had a chance to leave, holding him in my arm as Ava laid over the gurney hooked up to a few of the machines that were both keeping her hydrated and cleaning her system of any drugs or poisons she might have been given when she'd been captured. Helen had done a full scan of Ava's body, getting a new set of readings on her vitals every twenty minutes, and she said it would be a little while before they knew for sure how long Ava had been pregnant. I was still reeling from that information, but with every passing minute Helen did her scans, it was getting easier to accept. I wanted to have a baby with Ava. I just didn't want to lose her in the process.

"She is going to be all right then?" Thomas asked from my side as he sat near Ava's head.

"We hope so," I told him honestly as Norm came into the room with Lisa.

I sat up straight, watching as they unhooked the other gurney from the wall and began wheeling it out of the room. I glanced at Thomas, rising and moving to where they were working. "Is it time?" I asked, since I knew they were working on Warren's cryopod to get him out of stasis.

Norm looked at me. "Well, we're still monitoring him," he said glancing at Lisa and nodding for her to go on, "but yeah, we're almost ready for our first try. There's not a guarantee it will work the first time, but we've been getting him ready for the last two months. The operating theater is getting ready, and we're going to try and get him in before there are any complications."

"Are you expecting any?"

He slid his hands into his pockets, glancing around at Ava and then Eyreal before he spoke. "Well, his wound was pretty extensive, and he lost a good amount of blood. Max and David were only able to repair it two-thirds of the way before a lot of variables kept preventing them from completing the operation. With the new medicines from the village, we're hoping to finish the operation on his wound so he'll have a chance to come out of stasis by the end of the year."

"So it's possible he would still have to go back into stasis even after his surgery?"

He nodded solemnly. "It's possible. Yes."

"Will he ever wake up?"

"I really don't know," Norm said honestly. "I hope so. We've been working hard on this. I don't know if it helps, but if you hadn't found Ava and brought her here when you did, it's very likely none of this would be happening right now. But we've got a long road ahead of us. This is just the first step."

He turned to leave, but I stopped him again. "I want to see him," I said, watching Norm's face turn uncertain.

"I don't know about that, Jake. You might not like what you see. Amelia's in that part of the lab with Warren's avatar, and — "

"I want to see him," I said again. "I'll wear an exopack, and I'll stay out of the way. If he can make it into surgery and come back out alive, then it'll be a good sign that Ava can too. Please. I _need_ to see him, Norm."

He sighed heavily, looking at Eyreal and then looking at me. "I'll talk to Max," he nodded. "We should have an exopack for you to wear. Wait here, and I'll be back."

I bowed my head. "Thanks."

He left then, and I looked at Eyreal as she sat with Thomas at Ava's side. She didn't say anything to me, bowing her head and putting her arm around Thomas to comfort him the way she'd been doing for the last few months.

When Norm came back, Max was with him, and I could see an avatar-sized exopack in his hands. I looked back at Eyreal again, nodding silently as Norm spoke to me.

"Okay, Jake," he said. "We have a few rules for you to follow before you go in there. First, don't take this off while you're in there. Not even for a second. There's too much oxygen on the other side of the airlock for you to breathe."

I took the exopack, pulling the strap over my shoulder. "Okay."

"Second, don't touch anything. Not the panels on the walls or even the glass on the pods when you see something you want to touch. Everything in the lab is delicate, and you're kind of too big for that part of the building."

I nodded, grinning a little. "Anything else?"

"If we tell you to leave, you need to leave," Max said, and I looked at him. "If anything starts to go wrong, I'll have to get Lisa to take you out of the lab."

"Why?" I asked softly.

"In case we can't . . ."

He didn't finish, looking at Norm and then nodding to the airlock for us to follow. I again glanced at Eyreal, and she nodded before I followed Norm and Max into the airlock. It was a tight fit, and I had to squat down with my exopack fit on my face while the sensors filtered in more oxygen for Max and Norm to get to the larger part of the lab. Max stepped out first, and Norm followed, gesturing for me to stay behind them as we walked into a part of the lab I hadn't been inside in at least ten years.

It took several minutes to walk around to the newest part of the lab, and Norm allowed me through the doors where Helen and Mitch were currently prepping the other gurney from the ambient room for its next occupant. They both looked up at me while they were working, but neither of them said anything, continuing in their work as Norm showed me to where the pods for Amelia, Warren and his avatar were being kept a few meters from them.

Norm slid a code key through the security slot, and the opaque barrier disappeared, giving me a direct view of the three people I'd been dreaming about the last several months.

It was one of the few things that finally made sense after the last several months of all the strange dreams I'd been having. I'd only thought I'd been dreaming about being in my human body, but I realized as I stared at Warren inside the cryopod that I'd been dreaming about him. It had been right in front of me the very first time I'd dreamed, seeing myself staring into an amnio tank talking about the person inside the tank. That person had to be Warren. He was the one they were bringing out of stasis today, and he was the one they were going to be operating on. I wondered in Norm had given any thought to using the amnio tanks as incubators while Warren and Amelia recovered from surgery. I wondered if he'd thought about now that Ava was here needing surgery too.

"Jake," Max said, and I looked to see him and Lisa waiting with the gurney from the ambient room. "Remember those rules?"

I bowed my head then, moving away from the pods and scooting back so they could remove the compartment lid keeping Warren inside his cryopod. White vapor hissed from the edged of the pod, and a low buzzing noise followed as the computer beeped several times to alert anyone who didn't already know that a cryopod was being opened. Lisa worked fast, injecting Warren with one of the newer medicines they'd received from the village and then stepping back while Max initialized the motorized compartment tray to ease out into the open lab. For a few seconds, I didn't think it would hold Warren's weight, but Max and Lisa moved quickly, moving the sheets Warren was laid on from the tray to the gurney without jostling him or the monitor I now saw over the right side of his chest where his injury had been.

Upon closer inspection, which I was able to do when Max and Lisa closed the compartment lid and re-pressurized it before starting an IV for surgery, I saw the skin around Warren's wound wasn't even infected around the edges. I was surprised, but I knew that was the whole point of suspended animation. I knew it stopped everything, from facial hair growth to wound progression. I knew just by looking at Warren as he laid on the gurney sedated from the medication and a low body temperature that he hadn't aged in nearly eleven years — and in that, his wound had remained perfectly preserved from that night when Max had tried to save his life. I knew today they were going to try repairing his wound so he would be able to wake up. I hoped they would be able to help Amelia and Ava along with him.

"His temp's holding at eighty-five," Max told Lisa as they draped a new sheet over his body up to the middle of his torso. "Pulse is steady at seventy."

"What does that mean?" I asked, prompting them both to look at me.

"The lower his body temp and pulse are," Max said, "the easier it'll be for us to get him into surgery before we start to transfuse him. After that, we'll have a few hours at best before the damage to his body starts to catch up with us. With any luck, we'll be able to repair what's left before too much blood gets cycled through the pulse-ox machine and starts advancing his wound again."

"And if you succeed?" I asked, looking at Warren again.

"Well, we've been looking at a few options. First we need to get him through surgery."

Max nodded to Lisa, and they started to wheel Warren out of the lab. I stopped them before they could get to the doors, kneeling beside the gurney and laying my hands over Warren's shoulders. I looked at his face and then the pod he'd come out of, remembering how upset and sad Ava had been when she'd learned about my part in the war — when she'd thought her mother and Warren were both dead. I wanted her to know this — that her mother was alive and it was very possible that Warren could be awake and able to see her before anything worse happened.

Even with the exopack on my face, I still lifted my fingers to my forehead, touching my own skin and then touching Warren's forehead gently. _"Oel ngati kameie, ma tsmukan,"_ I whispered. Then I looked at Max. "Please do everything you can. I know how much it would mean to Ava if she got to see him again. And I'd kinda like to see him getting better too."

Max nodded. "We're going to do our best, Jake," he promised.

He looked at Lisa, nodding, and I let go of Warren, moving back to let them leave the lab with him.

"Hey," Norm said, moving to my side with a holo-tablet in his hands. "There's a camera in the operating theater if you want to watch. Or you can go back to Ava. I'll keep an eye on them for you."

I took the tablet from him, watching as the minutes passed until Max and Lisa eased Warren's gurney into the operating theater where Mitch, David and Helen were all waiting. I didn't say anything to Norm, sitting on the floor with the tablet and wanting nothing more than to be there where I could do something but sit and wait.

I must have sat there four or five hours, watching Max and David operate on Warren while Helen and Mitch stood by for assistance and completely intrigued by how much his survival meant to me. I knew deep down that it really had more to do with Ava than it did me, but still. Every time something unexpected happened and had to be handled immediately, I felt my pulse increase, and when it got fixed, I instantly relaxed. It was weird that I wanted him to be okay just as much as I wanted Ava to survive, and sitting there watching them made me think even more about the amnio tanks in the lab. I knew what they were designed for, and I knew it was possible for them to incubate a human recovering from major surgery. Surely Max and Norm had to have considered them.

"_Okay, that's good,"_ Max said over the comm in the operating theater. _"Looks like we're passed the worst of it. Let's start closing him up."_

The last few stages of surgery involved removing the monitor on Warren's chest and then suturing him up before a gauze bandage was placed over his closed wound. I could hear his heart beating over the comm, and the pulse-ox machine was beeping with his respiration. It looked like he was going to be okay. I hoped Ava's surgery went just as smoothly.

"Hey, Jake," Norm said from behind me. "They're moving him into the ambient room now if you want to go back."

I gave the tablet back to Norm. "Does it look like he'll wake up?" I asked softly.

Norm looked over the tablet which also held readings from the surgery I'd just watched. "It looks better now than it did before we took him out," Norm acknowledged, and I could sense a real sense of hope in his voice. Then he grinned. "Looks like those eleven years in stasis did him good. Come on, I'll go with you."

He led the way out of the lab, and I followed him back to the airlock that led into the ambient room where Eyreal and Thomas were still sitting with Ava. I removed the exopack and moved to her side quickly, kneeling beside her and taking her hand in mine as she opened her eyes to look at me. I smiled at her, laying my hand over her forehead and leaning closer to kiss her brow. Watching Warren survive surgery had heightened my hopes just a little, and I was praying about as hard as I could that her chances had just increased to a level where it was possible for her to come out of her surgery alive too.

The airlock opened then, and I turned to see Max and Lisa wheeling Warren into the room slowly. He was covered by a sheet now up to his ribs, and an IV machine was threaded into his left arm while two medicine bags dripped blood and drugs into his body. The bandage on his chest was about half the size the monitor had been, and from where I was, it didn't look like he'd started bleeding again. I knew that was a good thing at least.

I looked at Ava, knowing I was blocking her view but wanting to tell her before I showed her. "Ava, I need you to listen to me, okay?" I whispered.

She nodded silently, squeezing my hand.

I unconsciously smiled, caressing her forehead. "I know for a long time you thought your mother and Warren were gone. I know I thought it when we came here after I found you and talked to Norm and Max. But when we got here earlier today, I found out what Norm had been keeping from me. I found out why Lisa didn't come out of the lab the whole time we were here, and I understand now why they kept it from me — from both of us. Ava," I said softly, glancing over my shoulder at Warren and then looking at her again. "Your mother and Warren, they didn't die the night you got off the base. They were injured, both pretty badly from what Max and Norm say. But Max was able to keep them from dying, and they've been here the whole time. Look," I said, moving out of the way and allowing her to look and see Warren alive on the gurney next to hers.

The heart monitor machine beeped loudly and steadily, indicating that his heart rate and temperature were closer to where they were supposed to be, and his color looked even better now than it had before. It looked like he could wake up any time, and I wanted Ava to see that. I wanted her to see that she hadn't lost anyone who'd mattered to her after all, and I wanted her to live long enough to remember all the things she'd had before her life had been taken away from her.

I looked at her again, seeing a weak smile on her face and tears in her eyes as she gazed across the room at the man who'd pretty much raised her, and I wanted so desperately to know what she was thinking. Was she happy? Was she sad that she'd thought he was gone all this time? I knew she'd missed him, and I knew I was glad he was still alive and could possibly see her before she went into surgery since I knew that was also coming up pretty soon.

Then she looked at me. "Where's my mother?" she whispered, more tears falling from her eyes as she now held a tighter grip on my hand.

"She's here too," I promised. "They're watching her and getting her ready too. Warren's wound wasn't as bad as hers, and it was easier for them to get him out first. Max said he could wake up if there wasn't too much damage to his body from all the blood loss. Next, they're going to do everything they can for you, and with enough hope, you'll be here with him when she's ready too. Ava, I swear I'm not gonna let anything happen to any of you. You believe me, don't you?"

She lifted her hand to my face, pulling me closer and then kissing me before she responded. "Of course I believe you, Jake," she whispered. "I love you."

I laid my forehead over hers, inhaling as deep as I could and nearly attempting to take her essence into my body before I spoke. "I love you too. So much."

"Jake," Lisa said softly, now behind me with another tablet in her hands. "We've got to get her ready. You can come with us, if you want."

I looked at Eyreal, seeing almost a childlike look in her eyes as she peered across the room at Warren. I suddenly realized that he'd been the tall one she'd met when she'd seen Ava the first time all those years ago, and I reached for her hand even as I sat across from her next to Ava. She laid her hand in mine and allowed me to pull her to her feet, and I moved her around to where Warren was laying.

"You'll watch him for me, won't you?" I asked softly.

She looked at me like I'd given her the greatest honor of her life. She smiled and bowed her head. _"Srane, olo'eyktan."_

I laid my hand over her shoulder and looked at Thomas as he remained near Ava. He followed my nod, moving around to Eyreal's side as I spoke to him quietly. "Stay with Eyreal, okay? I'm gonna go with Ava to make sure she's okay in surgery, and then we'll be back."

He also bowed his head, settling in next to Eyreal as she watched Warren, and I turned to Lisa.

"Let's go," I said to her. She grinned slightly and glanced at Norm, and together, they unhooked Ava's monitor from the wall to wheel her toward the operating theater.

I was nervous. I was more nervous than I think I've ever been in my life, and I knew why. If this didn't go the way anyone wanted, it was very possible I could lose not only Ava, but also the child growing inside her. And I was scared. Even though I hadn't really had time to get used to the idea of having a child with Ava, the thought had never really been that far from my mind. I'd already admitted to myself that I wanted to have children with her, but I didn't want to lose her just so our child could survive. For some reason, it didn't seem fair that I got to see our child when she never would.

The walk to the operating theater was a little less comfortable for me since I had to kinda hunch over. The corridor was barely high enough for me to walk through, and every time we passed a light or a pipe hanging from the ceiling, I had to bow my head to keep from smacking into it. The corridor was somewhat dark, even with lights lining the floor against the walls, and when we got to the operating theater, Norm went in first before Lisa, and then I followed her as she and Norm pulled Ava through the doors that closed almost airtight behind me. The inside of the operating theater was kind of cold, and I had to sit down in a corner while Norm, Lisa, Max and David continued to get everything ready for the surgery.

"Jake," Max said, prompting me to look at him. "The same rules that applied with Warren and Amelia apply here. If I tell you to get out, you have to get out. Don't touch anything and stay out the way."

I bowed my head, clasping my hands together and resigning myself to the corner I'd chosen. "You won't hear a peep out of me," I promised.

He nodded, moving around and standing on Ava's right side while Norm spoke to her softly.

"We're going to be putting you under anesthetic for this," he said holding her hand in his. "So I'm gonna need you to count for me, okay? In Na'vi."

She stared at him and concentrated, her forehead furrowing as she began. _"'Aw. Mune. Pxey. Tsìng. Mrr. Pu . . . kap . . ."_

Norm glanced at me, speaking as he looked at Max. "She's under."

"Okay," Max said with a nod. "Watch her drip, and keep the recycler on to feed her the blood we have so she'll stay hydrated. This isn't going to be easy, but if we don't do this now, she won't last much longer."

David moved in then, taking a suture from the sterile tray and leaning over Ava's wound to get started. He looked up at me for a split second, sighing beneath his surgical mask and then laying his eyes over the task in front of him.

It wasn't easy sitting in that corner and watching David and Max operate over Ava. It had been over ten years — nearly sixteen — since I'd actually seen anything so foreign to me, and I felt so out of place. But I refused to leave Ava even though it made me uncomfortable to watch other people touch her and whisper over her like she wasn't there. It took every ounce of control I had to stay put, but I never moved.

David had to use every bit of technology they'd gained over the last eleven years to keep Ava from losing too much blood, and he had to work from the inside out, careful not to disrupt the membrane of Ava's uterus as it held our baby. I only knew those words because I could hear every little thing the four people standing over Ava spoke despite the fact that I'm sure they didn't mean for me to hear most of it. Her intestines were easy to repair, but the two blood vessels that had been severed were another story altogether. And when the machine meant to recycle Ava's blood back into her body began cycling too much from her, I knew something was wrong.

"This isn't going fast enough," Max said frantically. "She's bleeding out."

"We have to do something to transfuse her," Lisa exclaimed.

"But we don't have any blood we can give her," Norm hissed. "We didn't have time to synthesize anymore from the samples we took."

"Both of you be quiet," David ordered, still suturing and tying off another part of Ava's wound that allowed the machine to filter back the blood she'd just lost. Her vitals improved, but only marginally. "Everybody just be quiet," David shouted. "The machine's doing fine. We knew this would happen, so just keep it down."

But Ava was still bleeding from somewhere, and it took them almost forty-five minutes to figure out where it was coming from. David had to work twice as hard to stop that before he could move back to suturing the other blood vessel that had been severed, and it took another hour before they started to repair the other damage done to her abdomen. Lisa left the operating table then, moving to my side as I still sat in the floor and then laying her hand over my shoulder.

"You look like you're going to be sick," she said, touching my face and prompting me to look at her. "You need some fresh air."

I had to force myself to stay upright, and I knew she was right, but I wasn't going to leave Ava when she needed me to be here. "I can't leave," I said firmly.

"Jake," Lisa said, leaning over and looking into my eyes. "You can't do anything in here but watch, and it's making you sick to sit here. Norm will come tell us if anything happens. Come on," she pleaded, reaching for my hands. "You need to go outside. I know a short cut from here."

I knew it was useless to argue, allowing her to help me to my feet before she spoke to Norm.

"I'm taking him outside," she told him. "Come and get us the second you're done. And I mean that."

He nodded. "You'll be my first stop," he promised, and Lisa nudged me to the doors without another word.

It took a few minutes, but as soon as we were outside, having exited the building through the greenhouse, I breathed in the first bit of fresh air I'd had in nearly twelve hours. The sun was still shining even though it was close to dusk, and there was a gentle breeze blowing. I hadn't realized how good it felt out here upon arriving in the early hours of the morning, but now that I was outside, all I could think of what how mad I'd been when I'd left the day before. If Norm had just told me what was going on here, I wouldn't have left. Ava would be safe. She could've seen Warren and her mother in a completely different setting. I couldn't blame him though. No one else was responsible for this but me.

Lisa sat me down on the grass, kneeling in front of me and making me look at her. She'd removed my exopack in the airlock, and she tucked her surgical mask in her gown before removing it to be in her t-shirt and shorts. From around the edge of the greenhouse, I saw Josh and Elizabeth run to where we were sitting, and he got to me first, laying his hand over my shoulder.

"Hey," he said softly. "Dad told us about Ava. I'm sure him and Uncle David are going to do everything they can to help her."

Sitting there and having him comfort me the same way my son had comforted me the day after Neytiri had died was almost too much to take. I wasn't the kind of person who would cry instead of doing something, but I felt so overwhelmed by everything that had happened over the last two days. It was impossible to hold all of it in anymore, and I bowed my head away from all of them before any tears could fall from my eyes. Lisa held onto me the whole time, whispering and trying not to cry herself. I realized then that it was too much. I knew then that I wouldn't be able to handle anything happening to Ava, and it was infuriating that I was helpless and basically useless as she laid in surgery on the verge of dying.

We all sat there for almost another hour and a half before Norm came outside in his shirt and pants, and the first thing I noticed was how defeated he looked. I'd hoped he was bringing me at least a little good news, but the minute I saw his face, almost all the hope I'd built up disappeared. Then he spoke.

"Ava's out of surgery," he said, the tone of his voice resolute but not upbeat.

"What does that mean?" Lisa asked.

"There were complications while Max and David were repairing some of the muscle damage done to her lower abdomen," he revealed apologetically.

I sat up straight, feeling Lisa hold onto my shoulders as she now stood behind me. "The baby?" I asked.

"They didn't damage the membrane, so the fetus is still intact. But the blade that was used to cut her hit a lot of nerves and the edge of her ribs along with her intestines and blood vessels," he reported mechanically. "I told you we didn't have enough blood to transfuse her, so we had to use a recycler machine to pump her blood back into her body, but she still lost about half a pint in addition to the blood she lost last night."

"Norm," I said softly. "Please tell me what that means. I can't . . . Please."

"She probably won't wake up with the amount of blood inside her. And even if she carries the baby to term, she won't survive the delivery — even if we did a cesarean. I'm sorry, Jake. I really am. But Max and me started talking about a way to keep her alive while she's pregnant. It might — a very big might — give her the time she needs to heal so she'll live after the baby's born."

"How?" Lisa asked, now that I was sitting there with my face in my hands and feeling the heaviest weight on my shoulders so far.

"The amnio tanks," he said simply, and I looked at him.

"Of course," Lisa said, and I looked at her.

* * *

"Tell me again how we're going to get her in there," David prompted as we all stood around the Ambient room while Eyreal and Thomas kept a close eye on Ava and Warren. It had been an hour since she'd come out of surgery, and while she hadn't gotten any worse, her vitals hadn't improved. I knew we were running out of time, and the longer we debated the odds and ins, the less time we would have to put this plan into action.

"Well, the avatars were embryos when they were put inside," Max said. "The tanks were nearly full and as the avatars matured, it displaced the rest of water to completely fill the tank to capacity. Ava's about eighty percent of that size, so we should be able to fill the tank up three-fourths of the way before submerging her. With the breathing mask and the umbilical, we can titrate in enough nutrients to keep her metabolism level while the fetus gestates."

"Are we going to inject any growth hormones to progress the pregnancy faster than normal?" Helen asked, glancing at me but not saying anything to me.

"Let's hold off on that until we actually know if this is going to work," Norm pleaded. "If she survives the transfer, we can filter in whatever injections she'll need to make the transition easier. We're still not sure this will even work."

"Norm," I said, and he looked at me. "What about Warren?"

Lisa and Max both looked at me, and I knew neither of them had even thought about putting Warren inside one of the amnio tanks, but the moment I asked, the look on Norm's face told me everything I needed to know. I knew he remembered the first dream I'd ever had, and even though it didn't seem like it was safe, I knew it was possible. After everything that had happened to Ava and everything I'd discovered about Amelia, I knew my dreams had been preparing me for this. And now Norm knew that too.

"We'll have to adjust the liquid mixture before we doing anything," Max said to me. "Ava has more Human DNA inside her than the avatars did, and we won't be able to put in nearly as much alkaline or it'll do more harm than good. So we'll work on that. You stay in here with Ava and Warren, and we'll keep an eye on them while we look everything up and run the tests for the tanks."

"But you'll consider it?" I asked, more like pleaded.

"Of course I will, Jake," I promised. "I don't want to lose either of them anymore than you do. Just have a little faith, okay?"

I bowed my head, conceding his point and listening to him leave before Lisa called me to her side as she stood next to Warren's gurney.

"Jake, come over here. Quick."

I didn't hesitate, hurrying to her side to be opposite Eyreal, and I saw something I never thought would make me feel as happy as anything else ever had as I watched Warren's eyes slowly begin to flutter open. I felt like I'd been waiting for this moment for nearly a year, and my heart jumped into my throat almost immediately.

"Warren," Lisa said, her voice slightly elevated, holding his hand and watching him just as closely as I was. "It's Lisa. You're okay. Can you hear me? Warren."

"Well, I'm not deaf," he croaked, attempting to clear his throat unsuccessfully and grasping onto Lisa's hand.

Her smile widened to be twice as big as it had been before, and she looked at me.

"Where am I?" he asked, his voice ragged as he inhaled deep and exhaled roughly.

"You're in the lab," she said softly, caressing his temple. "I've missed you. So much."

"Missed me? What are you talking about? How long have I . . ."

His voice trailed off as he slipped back into unconsciousness, and Lisa leaned over to look at his monitor before she spoke again.

"He's going to be in and out until his vitals level out," she said, her voice hopeful and happier than I'd heard since meeting her the first time. "But it's a good sign. His fever's going down, and he's getting more hydrated by the minute. We might even be able to tell him what's going on before we put him inside the tank. I hope there's not too much brain damage from all those years in cryosleep."

"How long do you think it'll be before they get everything ready?" I asked, still watching Warren and looking for any sign of movement even though I was pretty sure I wouldn't see anything now that he was unconscious again.

"Well, if they get the balance of the fluid off, it could make their skin liquify, and if their skin was damaged, they could both die. Na'vi skin is specifically designed for Pandoran air and water, and even though Warren was able to breathe the air and drink the water, he's still mostly human on the inside. It's a little different for Ava. She has more Na'vi DNA inside her, but there's still enough Human in her for there to be complications if the liquid has too much alkaline in it. So it might take a while. Just be patient, Jake. They're not going to let anything happen to her. Or Warren. And when it's Amelia's turn, they won't let anything happen to her either. I promise."

I knew there wasn't anything I could do besides sit there, so that's what I did, moving around to Ava's side and watching her lay there with a tube in her mouth and a compression bandage around her torso from her chest to her hips. Her heart was beating slowly, and her breathing was shallow. I hoped Norm and Max didn't take long to figure out how they were going to do this. I knew they wanted everything to be perfect, and for Ava and Warren's sake, I hoped it was perfect. I realized I was now willing to lose Ava so I wouldn't lose the baby inside her, and it was the most painful thing I'd felt in almost a year.

Another hour went by, and Norm came back to check on Ava's vitals before he moved around to look at Warren's. Lisa told him about Warren opening his eyes, and even he was a little more optimistic about the chance of Warren waking up before they put him in the tank. I watched from Ava's side, wondering how long he would have to be inside the tank before he was good enough to come back out and remembering my dream from all those months ago. I didn't think I was going to leave the base for a long time from now, but I knew someone would have to go back to keep an eye on things. Eyreal wouldn't want to leave Ava or Warren, and I couldn't send Thomas back to village without her despite Mo'at being adamant about protecting him. I realized either Taw'biht or Rey'sik would have to go back even though they both seemed keen on staying here, and when Norm left the Ambient room without saying anything to me about Ava or Warren, I whispered to Eyreal that I would be back soon.

The sky was deep blue against the glowing orb of Polyphemus as I stepped out into the courtyard, and it felt like a another decade had passed since I'd been out here. I walked across the lawn toward the long-house, spotting Taw'biht and Rey'sik as they stood by with Letam. I tried not to let it show on my face that things weren't looking good, but I failed, and Taw'biht spoke before I got within a few meters of where he was standing.

"She is . . . dead?" he asked softly, his voice filled with fear.

I inhaled. "No. She's not. But it's not looking very good. They're doing everything they can. I need something from you."

"Anything," he insisted, bowing his head.

"Someone needs to keep the village safe while I'm here," I told him. "Because I don't plan on leaving Ava here until she's able to go back with me."

"Is that possible?" Rey'sik asked, glancing over his shoulder at Letam.

"I don't know," I admitted. "But I need one of you to do this for me. It's important."

Taw'biht looked at Rey'sik, and then they both looked at me. "I will go," Taw'biht announced. "If it will mean you stay here with her, then I will do this for you. You are her mate. It is your place to be here with her."

I laid my hand over his shoulder. "Thank you. I'll see about getting you to the village in the morning. Everything should be okay until then."

"Can I . . . I — May I see her, Jakesully? Please."

I looked at Rey'sik, glancing back at the airlock and then looking at Taw'biht. "All right," I nodded. "Come with me."

He glanced at Rey'sik and then followed me back across the courtyard toward the lab.

The inside of the lab was obviously foreign to Taw'biht as I guided him inside slowly, and he did everything short of tying his hands behind his back to keep from touching anything he wasn't supposed to. Thomas was still sitting beside Ava, and I pulled him to my side so Taw'biht could sit with her for a few minutes. I glanced across the room where Eyreal was still sitting next to Warren and Lisa. She glanced over her shoulder at me as she now held Warren's hand in hers. I was surprised, but after everything I'd learned about her, I didn't see anything wrong with it. I actually wondered if he would remember her when he saw her.

"She looks so peaceful," Taw'biht said from Ava's side. "What will the Sky People do to save her?"

The airlock opened then, allowing Norm inside, and I spoke without thinking about it. "Everything they possibly can."

Taw'biht took Ava's hand in his, whispering to her softly and then bowing his head before he looked at me. "You trust them to save her?"

Norm looked at me, and I looked at Taw'biht. "I do," I swore.

"Then I will return to the village, and you will remain here with your mate."

He stood up to leave without a word to anyone else, and I sat beside Ava's gurney as Thomas spoke softly.

"We are staying here with Ava?" he asked.

I looked at her, taking her hand in mine and laying my hand over her forehead. "We're staying," I told him.

* * *

It was the middle of the night before Norm and Max were ready to try putting Warren into one of the empty amnio tanks still being stored in the lab. They spent about an hour getting everything ready, and Mitch and David hosed down the inside of the tank to clean out as much of the previous liquid solution that had been inside it. By the time they were ready, he was really close to normal, and Max and David agreed it would be okay to give him enough stimulant to wake up so they could talk to him about everything that had happened.

As a precaution, they purposefully blocked his view of the rest of room, but I was sitting less than six meters away with Eyreal and Thomas next to me when he started to come around. It was a little different from the first time, and he didn't speak for a minute or two until Norm spoke.

"Warren, can you hear me?"

"Where am I?" he asked the same way he had last time. He didn't sound disoriented or hoarse. He sounded scared.

"You're in the lab," Norm promised him. "It's okay. How do you feel?"

"I'm not sure. Max?"

"It's me," Max chuckled. "A lot's happened since the last time we saw each other. I should probably fill you in. But first tell me the last thing you remember."

There was a pause, and I strained to see him through the small space between Max and Helen as they blocked my view of him. Then he spoke.

"I heard a gunshot outside," he told Max. "The lab was quiet, but there were guards everywhere. I left the lab, and when I stepped outside, I saw her on the ground. She was hurt, and Austin was aiming his weapon at her. I yelled, and he let his guard down. I hit him with my mask, and then I took his weapon from him." He paused, it seemed to collect his thoughts, before he continued. "She was bleeding. A lot. I'd never seen so much blood, and I knew I had to get her inside. But I couldn't leave Ava alone. Another guard came, and he was going to kill Ava. Because she looked different. So I told her to run. And he tried to shoot her. He was going to shoot me. But I knocked him back. There was something sharp and heavy in my shoulder. I heard someone's voice, but it's all black after that. Is . . . Is Amy okay?"

I could see he was holding Max's hand as tight as he could, and Max wrapped his free hand around Warren's wrist.

"She's okay," he said softly. "But Warren, this isn't going to be easy to tell you. That night you went out into the courtyard, you got shot in your shoulder. And I found the two of you outside. I couldn't let you die, so I brought you in here. I did everything I could with what I had. But it wasn't enough, and I had to make a really had decision. That night, it was over ten years ago, and we just pulled you out today."

There was another pause, and it sounded like he laughed. "You're joking," he said. "That's not possible. How could you leave me in cryo for ten years?"

"I couldn't let you die," Max told him. "And it was the only solution we had with all the guards coming into the lab. You were safe there, and we were able to get all the military off the surface less than a week later. But you weren't ready to come out. We didn't have the supplies, and I didn't want to risk losing you. The important thing is that you're alive. But you're still not better. So we have to put you back under so you can heal in a more controlled environment. Just for a couple of weeks. By then, your wound should have healed enough for you to move around by yourself."

"And Amy?"

"Her wound was little more extensive than yours," Max explained. "And she's not ready. But we're keeping an eye on her."

"You have gray hair," Warren noted. "It's really been that long?"

Max nodded, and then Warren asked the next most logical question.

"What happened to Ava?" he whispered softly. "Did she . . . Did she make it off the base?"

Max glanced back at me then, and then Helen did. After about half a minute, Max spoke softly. "She made it off the base," he promised Warren.

"So she's okay?" Warren pleaded. "She made it to the village?"

I looked at Ava, thinking back over ten years earlier when I'd been settling into my new life and not even thinking there was someone out there looking for me. I'd been so stupid, so selfish. And now it felt like I was losing everything that mattered to me. First, I'd lost Neytiri, and now I was losing Ava.

"Max," I said suddenly, and he looked at me while still blocking Warren's view. "He needs to know. It's okay."

Max looked at Warren, hesitating even as Warren spoke softly.

"Who is that?" he asked. "What do I need to know?"

Max bowed his head, moving out of the way and allowing Warren to look across the room where we were all sitting. The recognition in his eyes was almost immediate, and I knew for him, it had only been a day since he'd seen my face. And then he sat Ava as she laid over the gurney in front of me. His face got red, and his pulse increased over the monitor. I knew he was seeing her for the first time like this, and it would've been impossible for him to really recognize her, but he did. I could see it when he opened his mouth and whispered. I didn't need to hear him. I knew exactly what he said.

"_Ava."_

Then he looked at Max. "What happened to her?" he demanded, clenching his teeth as his nostrils flared gently. "And why is he here?"

"She was attacked, and we're looking after her," Max said as comfortably as he could. "But we're trying to focus on your right now. Don't worry about Jake."

Warren's fists were clenched tight, and I knew he was angry. I'd be angry if I were him. I deserved every bit of it.

"We're going to give you enough sedative to put you down so we can get you into one of the amnio tanks," Max explained. "But don't worry. We're going to be keeping a very close eye on you."

He didn't give Warren time to argue, moving in smoothly and injecting the sedative into the IV. Warren looked at me, and then he looked at Ava, now completely aware of the situation even as he was taken out of the equation slowly by the drugs now coursing through his blood. Max looked at me, setting the sedative at a steady drip and then allowing David to move in to set up the breathing machine.

I looked at Ava then, knowing she was going to be next and wanting to do nothing more than remain by her side for the last few minutes I had with her until they would lift her into the tank where she would be able to stay while the baby inside her grew. I knew it wasn't fair that Ava didn't get to see him awake, and I knew it wasn't fair that he didn't get to see her awake. But time was running out, and I wasn't going to lose her now. I didn't care if he hated me or not.

* * *

**So, were you as surprised as I was? I know I sure was. But there you have it! Another chapter put to bed. We're getting closer to the end here, but don't tell anyone I said that.**

**We have a few definitions this time around, since Jake's on the base, and not a lot of people there speak fluent Na'vi.**

**Definitions:**

_**Oel ngati kameie, ma tsmukan**_ **- I See you, brother**

_**Srane**_**- Yes  
**

_**olo'eyktan**_ **- Clan Leader**

_**'Aw.- One**_

_**Mune. **_- **Two**

_**Pxey. **_-** Three  
**

_**Tsìng.**_ - **Four**

_**Mrr. **_- **Five**

_**Pukap**_ **- Six (Ava actually breaks this one up because she's under anesthetic, but it's still the same.) ;-)**

**All right now. I know I said this last time, but I'll try my hardest to have the next one out in a timely fashion, and until then, enjoy the rest of your holidays!**

**Until next time, Keep Calm & Carry On!  
**


	30. Promise

**Look at me! I'm posting a new chapter! And a little bit of time goes on during this one, so try to pay attention. We're in for the home stretch here, my lovelies, so I hope you've enjoyed yourselves thus far.**

**Not that many people have been telling me what they think, so I have believe that most of you are liking what you're reading. **

**Enough of me, on with the reading!  
**

* * *

_**Promise**_

The fact that I hadn't slept in over 24 hours hit me probably half an hour before Norm said they were ready to put Ava in the last amnio tank as it waited with just enough liquid inside to submerge her before they filled it up. I tried to make Lisa give me something to keep me awake until the tank was closed up, but she refused, making me watch while Norm and David lifted Ava into the tank. Norm was more careful with Ava than I'd ever seen him, and even though he still had to wear protective gear on his arms and legs, he backed up all the way into the tank until she was inside. They checked her bandages, making sure the solution of the liquid wouldn't affect her wounds, and once they were sure, they climbed back out and sealed the tank so Max could initialize the umbilical and the breathing mask now covering Ava's nose and mouth. They were telling me it would give her a mixture of Earth and Pandoran air for at least six months before having to be changed out, and if this worked, they would be giving Ava hormones to progress her pregnancy more quickly so she wouldn't have to stay in the tank another year.

Once she was inside and Max was filling the tank in the rest of the way, Lisa pushed me to my feet and nudged me toward the airlock outside. I didn't want to leave, but I knew she was serious about making me get some rest, so I didn't really protest, especially since I actually was kind of exhausted.

I realized it was after dawn when we stepped outside, and I spotted Eyreal and Thomas on the front porch of the long-house before they saw me. Thomas came running to me like it had been days since he'd seen me, and I caught him in my arms before we walked to the long-house together.

"Ava is asleep now?" he asked, and I thought about her floating in that amnio tank the way my body now had been eleven years earlier.

"Yeah," I said, squeezing him against me. "She's asleep now."

"Eyreal says I am to be a big brother soon," he laughed as we arrived at the porch where Eyreal was sitting quietly.

She lifted her eyes to mine, staring for a few seconds before she bowed her head, and I looked at Thomas.

"Well, it'll be a little while, but it's true. Ava's carrying a baby inside her. You'll have a little brother or sister when she's ready. How about you go find one of the pads inside to read? Your old man's gotta lay down for a little while, okay?"

He wrapped his arms around me, squeezing and then running into the long-house to find something to do.

"Jake," Lisa said. "You need to sleep. You've been going for almost two days now on no sleep. Go now, before I shove you in a tank myself to make you rest."

I blushed, glancing around and looking for Taw'biht as Eyreal spoke.

"He is gone," she said. "He left almost an hour ago."

"Have you slept?" I asked, sitting at her side and watching her avoid looking at me.

"While you were in surgery," she revealed. "I am fine. You go. I will remain here."

"I could use the company, though," I commented. "We're friends, right?"

"Of course," she said still not meeting my eyes.

"Hey," I said quietly, reaching for her face and turning her to look at me. "I know you're worried about her too. It's okay if you're scared. We can deal with this apart, or we can do it together. You don't have to do this alone, Eyreal. I'll tell you what. I'll lay down for the whole day, if you'll lay down with me."

She lifted her eyes to mine, and for the first time, I saw something there I hadn't even realized could exist. Regret. I didn't give her a lot of time to argue, taking her hands in mine and pulling her to her feet. Lisa followed us as we walked through the long-house together to one of the hammocks. Thomas had already grabbed a few pads and left through the rear entrance, and it was silent inside except for the three of us.

I slid into one of the hammocks silently, reaching for Eyreal and almost pleading with her to lay down with me. I suddenly felt the need to comfort her, since it was also someone close to her we'd just spent the last day trying to save, and I wanted her to know she could come to me and tell me anything she needed to. I didn't want her to be afraid of me, not like it seemed she was now as she reluctantly slid into the hammock with me and allowed me to hold her in my arms. She was a little bigger than Ava, and she was a little stiff even though she laid her head over my chest.

"Do I need to give you a sedative, Jake?" Lisa asked.

Now that I was laying down and relaxed, I realized exactly how exhausted I was, and I didn't even have a chance to answer her. I was asleep within a few seconds of her speaking, and I knew I wasn't going to be waking up for a while.

* * *

"He's not asleep. There's no way he could still be asleep. He's been in here over thirteen hours."

Elizabeth's voice brought me around gently as I still laid in the hammock with Eyreal, and I eased my left eye open to look around. It was dark again, and the halogen lights in the long-house were burning softly from the ceiling as little bugs and specks of dust wafted in the air around my head.

"Uncle Jake?" Keira whispered, her little finger touching my cheek gently.

I unconsciously cleared my throat, and Elizabeth laughed.

"See? I told you he wasn't asleep."

"Actually," I said softly, absently squeezing Eyreal closer to me. "I was asleep. At least until the two of you woke me up."

I looked around further, seeing them there with exopacks on their faces as they gazed at me curiously. "Do your parents know you're out here?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Of course they do," she informed me. "Uncle Max was the one who told us to come out here and check on you."

That kind of sobered me up, and I looked at her closer. "Has something happened?" I asked.

"Ava's okay," she said quickly, laying her hand over my forehead. "Warren's okay too. Are you hungry?"

I thought about what she was saying and how I was feeling, and I knew I hadn't eaten in about as long as I'd been asleep. I looked at Eyreal, seeing that she was still asleep, and then I looked at Elizabeth and Keira.

"Give us a few minutes, okay?"

Keira moved forward, climbing into the hammock with near lightning speed and hugging me around my neck before she climbed back out and grabbed Elizabeth's hand so they could hurry out of the long-house, for what I hoped was something for me and Eyreal to eat. I kind of laughed, feeling my hands over Eyreal's back and then lowering my eyes to hers as she slowly came around from our nap.

"It is dark again," she said softly.

"I knew you were tired," I told her.

"I was trying to be strong," she replied, gently biting her lower lip.

I lifted my hand to her face, making her look at me. "I know," I whispered.

She realized how close we were then, and she pressed her hands into my chest to push me away. I decided we'd spent long enough in close quarters, so I rolled out of the hammock slowly, allowing her to stand up as well, and when I reached for her hand like I had earlier, she stepped back, wrapping her arms around herself. I tried to play it off, motioning to the front of the long-house before she moved off in that direction, and I followed her slowly.

Elizabeth and Keira were waiting on the front steps with food wraps, and I looked around to see Rey'sik and Nìmun coming closer with several things in their hands.

"I have spoken to Taw'biht," Rey'sik announced without much prompting from me. "He has removed Tu'San from his responsibilities in the village until you return. I told him it would be some time before then, but the _tsahìk_ agreed with this course of action due to his actions where Ava is concerned. You have slept most of the day," he said to me. "You are well-rested, _olo'eyktan_?"

I glanced at Eyreal and then the girls. "I guess I am," I said taking one of the food wraps and starting to eat even as I eyed the objects in their hands. "What have you got there?"

He looked at Nìmun, and she moved forward slowly, presenting me with a new knife and a small collar made from the few pieces of my other one that weren't covered in blood. Eyreal touched my neck absently, and I suddenly realized the silver chain around my neck since I'd clasped it there the night before last.

"_Olo'eyktan,"_ Nìmun said softly, holding out the knife and showing me how to put it on. It fit over my other shoulder, and it was a little uncomfortable at first, but when she moved forward to tie the collar around my neck, I stopped her, taking the collar in my hands and looking at it.

"Thank you," I said quietly. "But while I'm here, I won't really need these. So I'll just put them somewhere for safe keeping. Have you two eaten anything?"

She bowed her head. "Yes, _olo'eyktan._"

"Please, call me Jake," I insisted.

She glanced at Rey'sik, and he nodded before she smiled and then looked at me. "Jake," she corrected. "We will leave you now."

She backed away from me slowly, and Rey'sik took her hand in his to pull her back toward the small encampment. I watched them walk away, thinking of the last time I'd held Ava's hand and wondering when I would get to hold it again.

"They have not mated yet," Eyreal said of Rey'sik and Nìmun. "But they are trying to be discreet while we are all here. I heard them talking earlier. I believe they . . . like each other. It is good, yes?"

I smiled despite the situation. "It _is_ good," I agreed.

"Jake," Elizabeth said, moving to my lap and sitting over my legs. "How long are you going to be here this time?" she asked softly.

I looked at her and then Keira, reaching for her hand to pull her closer. "I'm not sure," I told them as honestly as I could. "But I'm not going anywhere without Ava. So as long as she's here, this is where I'm going to be. For the time being, you've got me for as long as you'll have me."

Keira wrapped her little arms around as much of my chest as she could, and Elizabeth wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I really hope Ava's okay," Elizabeth whispered. "Even if that means you leaving sooner than later."

I held Elizabeth close, thinking of what it would feel like to hold a baby this small again and hoping the same thing she did. "Thank you," I whispered to her.

She leaned back and touched my forehead, climbing down from my lap and pulling Keira off so they could go back inside.

"Bye!" Keira waved, smiling as she followed Elizabeth.

I waved solemnly, returning to my food and glancing at Eyreal as she also ate her food. I let it stay quiet for a little while, speaking after about ten minutes.

"You can talk to me, you know," I said to her. "I know we haven't had a lot of time to talk about anything, but we have to be a team. Right?"

She hesitated, and I looked at her. Then she looked at me.

"We are a team," she agreed.

She didn't talk after that, and I leaned closer. "So?"

"What is it that you wish to know?" she asked.

I grinned. "Are you kidding?" I chuckled softly. "I must have a hundred questions. Starting with your family. The one that died in the war. You said you weren't always with the Omaticaya. How old were you when you were brought into the clan again?"

"Thir-teen," she said softly.

"What was it like when you first came to the village?" I asked still eating my food and not even thinking about what I was doing until I saw the look on her face.

Her eyes were sad, and she wasn't eating her food. I put down my food wrap, moving closer to her and making her look at me.

"Were people mean to you?" I asked, hoping I hadn't caused her to bring up painful memories like I had before.

"No," she said simply.

I tried to read her face, tried to see what could possibly be going on inside her head for her to react this way, but before I could open my mouth again, she spoke.

"The Omaticaya were good to me," she insisted. "They gave me a new home and a new family." She bowed her head so low I could barely see her eyes, and for a few seconds, I could've sworn she was crying.

I laid my hand over her shoulder, trying to comfort her and hoping she would feel comfortable with me enough to tell me what she was thinking. I hadn't meant to dredge up any feelings of hers that would do this, but I knew that once she started, she wouldn't stop until she was finished. The quicker she did it, the less it would hurt later on. I knew that from experience.

She lifted her head then, looking at me with tears in her eyes as she spoke again. "I have not been truthful with you, Jake," she whispered.

I sat up straight, still holding her shoulder. "About what?"

"About myself. I . . ." She paused, turning to face me and then clenching her fists like she was trying to make herself stronger while she talked. "I had a mate," she said softly.

I leaned closer, wanting to make sure I'd heard her right. "You had a mate?" I asked just as softly as she had.

She nodded.

"Who? When? I didn't think you'd ever wanted one."

"I was eight-teen," she said with a slightly nod. "His name was Angol."

Suddenly, the memory I still had burned into my brain of the boy who'd been brought back from _iknimaya_ dead flashed into my mind, and everything became so clear. Even though Angol had only been sixteen, he'd already been through all of his trials, and had he not died trying to tame his banshee, he would've gone through _uniltaron_ a couple of years later to be a full member of the clan. If Eyreal had known him and what he'd been doing, it explained so much. But before I could tell her that I understood and wanted to help her, she spoke again.

"I met him my first day with Omaticaya," she said. "He was my . . . best friend. We do everything together. We bonded for first time when we were only children. Mating would come much later. Neytiri wanted to . . . train me to be _tsahìk_, and I saw many things as I grew. I would have followed Neytiri directly had he not been lost. After he passed through the Eye, I did not want to take a mate. Neytiri tried to help. She still train me. But I was lost with Angol. I did not find my way for many years. Until I see Ava again. She showed me my path as it had been laid before me as a new member of Omaticaya."

She took my hand from her shoulder, holding it in hers and lifting her eyes to mine. "Jake," she said softly, causing chills to ease up my back to my neck. "You . . . are my path. But I cannot take that path. And so I am lost forever. Because I will not wish your mate, my sister anymore pain than she has already suffered. I have known her since she was a small child. I know Warren when I was small child, and now I am as big as he is. This is not Eywa's will."

"I'm not supposed to be with Ava?" I asked, feeling angry for the first time in several hours.

She lifted her fingers to my lips, stopping me. "That is not what I say," she promised. "You See her, more than anyone else in clan. You care for her more than anyone else in clan. It is the Sky People who caused this to happen. And now we are left with consequences. I do not know what to do next. Our paths should be together. More than a team, Jake. _Olo'eyktan_ and _tsahìk_ are meant to be a mated pair. But you have already taken this path, and you must see it to the end. No matter what that will be."

She leaned forward slowly, kissing my cheek and leaning her cheek into mine before she stood up and walked down the stairs to step into the encampment. I sat still not knowing what I was supposed to do or say, so I just sat there and didn't do or say anything.

* * *

It was weird being on the base for more than a few days knowing that I had no real intention of going back to the village without Ava. It was even stranger to get updates from Taw'biht, since he insisted on talking to me every day about everything going on there and on the base. He asked about Ava every few days, but it was mostly about how well she was doing and when she would be ready to have the baby. Norm wasn't giving too much of an indication as to when that would be, but I checked on Ava every day, sometimes sitting with her for several hours while activities on the base went on like I wasn't even there. Helen took readings from Ava's tank every day as it set next to Warren's, and since I was there, I checked on him too.

Based on his reaction to me upon seeing me in the Ambient room with Ava, I was pretty sure he wasn't that happy to see me. I didn't blame him. From his perspective, no matter how out-dated it was, I was responsible for everything happening. Max hadn't really had an opportunity to tell him how everything had turned out for the best, or that Amelia was alive even if she was still in stasis. He had every right to be angry at me. Just like with Ava, I'd feel even worse if he wasn't at least a little pissed at me. I watched him every day trying to figure out exactly what I was say to him the next I saw him, which Max was saying could be as little as a few days to as much as two weeks. Either way, I wasn't going anywhere.

Eyreal, Thomas and Rey'sik all stayed on the base with me the whole time knowing they could be there a little while. I knew Rey'sik was already courting Nìmun, and I figured he wasn't going anywhere any time soon anyway, but after talking to me that night, Eyreal steered clear of me as much as she could. I didn't really like seeing her pull away even though she didn't actively avoid me. Sometimes, she would even go inside with me to sit with Ava and Warren. But she never talked to me again. It was unnerving to know how much she'd actually lived before being chosen to follow in Neytiri's footsteps only to have to be held back by me. I didn't like feeling sorry for people since most people put themselves in the kind of situations that made them act the way they did. But it was almost completely my fault that she was having to do this, and it made me feel even worse than I did about the whole thing with Ava.

Norm and Lisa tried to spend as much time with me and Thomas as they could, in their human bodies in the courtyard, and the kids organized a new team sport every day to see what they could get Thomas to play that wasn't going to result in a major injury for any of them. The little ones liked it when I played hide and seek with them, since they couldn't climb very high, and even though they could slip into some pretty tight spaces, they never went far. The older kids still wanted to play football and soccer, and when Mitch was out in his avatar, we played basketball. I hadn't played basketball in over ten years, but it took one game for me to get back into it. Even though I wasn't there to have fun, it took my mind off things for . . . a little while anyway.

When I wasn't playing with the kids or Mitch or eating or sleeping, I was inside with Ava. The tank she was inside gauged her vitals every three minutes, and the respirator covering her mouth and nose recycled air into her lungs every ten minutes. She floated inside the water covered in a compression bandage to keep her wound from getting infected. They were keeping her sedated through the umbilical, and they were also giving her medication to promote the clotting agents in her blood so she could heal. But after a week and a half, Norm was still saying it was unlikely that she would wake up after getting out of the tank. He was also saying that even if she lived through a delivery, the likelihood of her coming out of unconsciousness was pretty slim. I couldn't help but wonder what good it would do for her to survive, especially if she would spend the rest of her life in a coma.

"It's not like a coma," Norm said that day, a week and half after putting Ava and Warren into the tanks. We were sitting in front of Warren's tank while Max was running a diagnostic on Ava's tank. "It's more like a deep sleep. I mean, we could give her enough stimulant to keep her awake, but we'd have to keep it on a drip. And we'd only be able to give it to her for a few hours."

I stared at Warren's face as he floated inside the tank gently. "So what you're saying is that it would be better if I let her die?" I asked softly.

Norm shook his head. "I can't make that decision. You have to ask yourself what's best for her. She's your mate. And that's your child. Is it better that she would have to be sedated for the rest of her life after having the baby? But we really need to wait until it's been more than a week and a half. She's going to be in there for a while, Jake."

It got quiet, and I thought about the first dream I'd ever had, suddenly wanting to test my theory as I spoke. "Is he okay now?" I asked Norm.

He laughed softly. "He's almost perfect now."

"How much longer is he gonna have to be in there?" I asked softly, glancing at Norm.

He moved to my side, looking inside the tank. "A few more days."

Chills eased up my back, causing me to sit up straight as I whispered. "Does Max know how Ava's doing now?"

He paused, looking in my direction and then gazing around the room toward where Max was working. "It looks like she's doin' fine, Jake."

"Can I see her now?"

He sighed softly, leaning away from the tank. "Come with me."

I stood up from the floor slowly, moving around to the other side of the room where Max was finishing up with Ava. In just a week and a half, they'd given her enough hormones to progress her pregnancy enough that it was already noticeable. But she was just as still as she had been the first night she'd been inside the tank.

"Do you think she knew she was pregnant?" I asked, even though I wasn't really aiming it at either one of them.

"Most women usually know when they're pregnant," Max said. "Helen did. And she didn't tell me for over a week. I was furious. And then I was freaking out. And then I was just about as happy as I've ever been."

I listened staring at Ava's face and wanting to touch her even though I knew I couldn't — and not just because I was wearing an exopack. "Then why didn't she tell me?" I begged. "Why did I have to find out like this? Didn't she trust me?"

Norm put his hand on my shoulder. "That might not have been the reason at all," he tried to assure me. "You know she trusts you with her life. Maybe she was scared. Helen was scared, wasn't she, Max?"

He kind of laughed. "Are you kidding me?" he snickered. "She was positively ecstatic! I think she kept it from me as long as she did to torture me."

Norm reached out and kind of slapped Max's shoulder, and then they both looked at me.

"Oh, um, of course, she was scared," Max insisted. "Especially at first. It took her a while to get used to the idea. She didn't tell me until she was ready. Maybe Ava was just waiting for the right time. All women like to do that."

I grinned slightly, sitting with my legs crossed and fidgeting slightly. "Thanks," I whispered.

* * *

Three days later, when Norm and Max were ready to pull Warren out of the tank, I asked them if I could be there to make sure everything went okay. Neither of them really questioned me, but what I really wanted was to confirm my suspicions once and for all. After everything I'd discovered upon being told that Amelia and Warren were both still alive and on the base, I'd started thinking about every dream I'd ever had when I'd been in "my" body, and I knew now that it hadn't been me at all. I knew now that it had been Warren. But I had to know for sure if all of those dreams had really been something else altogether. I had to know for sure if all the belief the People had in Eywa wasn't completely misplaced, considering everything that had happened to Ava and Neytiri. I knew she'd helped me by allowing me to wake up in my avatar body. And I knew she'd helped the People by sending a new "army" to win the war. But all that meant was that she answered prayers when they were given to her face to face. I had to know for sure if she'd been speaking to me all this time. Warning me.

"Are you sure you want to sit here while we do this?" Norm asked as we waited for the tank to be ready for draining. "It might take a while. I mean, we put him in an induced coma for almost two weeks."

"It's okay," I told him, sitting on the other gurney. "I want to be here. So I can tell Ava."

He sighed softly as Max stepped back into the airlock, and we both looked at him as he spoke.

"Lisa's ready," he said. "We filtered out enough of the liquid to get him out, so we just need to keep our gloves on so we don't get any of it on our clothes or anything."

Norm looked at me, staring for a minute and then looking at Max. "We're all ready in here."

Max moved to the glass separating the ambient room from the room the tanks were being kept in, and he knocked three times to get Lisa's attention before she nodded and began shutting the controls on the tank down. It took probably half an hour to get to the point where Max and Norm were ready to open the hatch, and several dozen gallons of liquid spilled out on the floor before Norm climbed in to look at Warren's bandages.

"Doesn't look infected," he said from inside the tank. "Oxygen's still good. The medicine looks like it worked. Let's do this."

Max climbed up into the end of the tank, and together, they pulled Warren out until they could lay him on the gurney waiting. They'd only been able to dress him in a pair of underwear, but other than that, he was bare-skinned, and Max began mixing the oxygen with Pandoran air to bring Warren's temperature back up to normal. Norm worked over Warren's wound, using a scanner to gauge how much it had healed, and for another hour, no one really said anything.

"Pupils equal and reactive," Norm said, now shining a light in Warren's eyes. "Heart rate and blood pressure are normal. How long has it been since we pulled him out?"

Max looked at the monitor. "About two hours."

Norm glanced at me, staring again and then looking at Warren. "How much longer do you think it'll be?"

Max sighed softly, pressing a few buttons on the monitor. "I don't know, Norm," he said, sounding a little annoyed. "We weren't really waiting for him to wake up the last time, before we put him in there. Remember we woke him ourselves. He'll wake up when he's ready."

For several more minutes, we all listened to Warren's heart beat fill the air, and I moved a little closer to see him just as the airlock opened again to allow Lisa inside. I looked at her, and she moved around to my side just as Warren inhaled the deepest breath I'd heard in a very long time. Norm laughed softly, putting the scanner away and then leaning closer to Warren. He touched Warren's face, and Max moved a thermometer into Warren's ear.

"Temp's almost 97," he reported.

"That's good enough," Norm said. "Warren, can you hear me?"

At first, nothing happened. Norm looked at Lisa, and they looked at me before he spoke again.

"Warren, it's Norm and Lisa. Can you hear me?"

He whispered, but I couldn't hear him, and Norm squeezed his shoulder.

"It's okay, Warren. You're okay. You're gonna be just fine. Can you open your eyes for me?"

Slowly, Warren lifted his hand to hold onto Norm's arm. "Amy," he whispered a little louder before he cleared his throat gently. "Where's Amy?"

"She's still in stasis," Max said. "She's okay. Right now, we need to know about you. How are you feeling?"

He was quiet for another minute, lying still and breathing deep before he spoke again. "Different. Am I out for good now?"

Max laughed softly. "Yeah. Your vitals are good, and your wound is almost completely healed. Another few weeks, and you'll be good as new. Do you want to sit up?"

"Is that safe?" Warren asked. "I won't tear anything, will I?"

"It's safe," Norm assured him. "Come on. Sit up for me."

Slowly, Norm and Max helped Warren sit up over the gurney, and even though his heart rate increased slightly, he looked healthy. Then he looked at me.

Since he'd been put into the tank, I'd been asking myself what I was going to say to him when I saw him again, but as I sat there watching him as he stared at me, I was still coming up blank. He didn't look angry, but he'd just woke up from an induced coma, so he was probably still a little groggy.

Lisa stepped in then, wrapping a thick robe around his shoulders and then taking his hands in hers. "Let's see how you do standing up."

He grasped onto her hands, glancing at me and then looking at the floor as he slowly stepped to the floor. He was obviously unsteady on his feet, but he clenched his teeth and held onto her hands tighter. "When did you start breathing in here?" he asked her softly.

Lisa laughed. "About as long as you've been in stasis. Does that hurt?" she asked of his legs.

He huffed, leaning back into the gurney. "A little."

"Well, you've been in stasis for ten years," she said to him. "We'll get you into physical therapy when Max is finished with your tests."

"When can I see Amy?"

She glanced at me, and after half a minute, she spoke softly. "Let's take this a little bit at a time, okay?"

He looked at me again, staring another minute before he looked at Lisa. "What is he doing here?" he asked softly.

Lisa didn't say anything at first. She just helped him stand up. Then she spoke softly again. "He wanted to make sure you were okay," she told him. "For Ava's sake. And he knows everything, Warren."

"Then it's his fault all this happened," he argued. "And Ava shouldn't be his responsibility."

"Don't worry about that, okay?" she pleaded. "Let's see if you can walk outside, all right?"

He inhaled deeply, still clenching his teeth and then rising to his feet again with a heavy breath. Several more seconds passed, and Lisa pulled his arm around her shoulders to help him move toward the airlock outside. He glanced at me as they moved slowly, but he didn't say anything, leaning on Lisa and grimacing every time his feet touched the ground.

I waited until they were gone to look at Norm and Max as they began cleaning up, and they both looked at me without saying anything. I knew they'd been listening to everything he said, and they were probably wondering if he was right. All these things happening were my fault, and I was going to spend the rest of my life doing everything in my power to make up for it.

* * *

Warren started physical therapy almost as soon as Lisa got him set up with a bed in the long-house, and I tried to stay out of the way. I'd made a promise to Ava that I wasn't going to let anything happen to any of them, and I wanted to be able to keep it. But it wasn't easy without being able to see him do his exercises every day after he came out of the tank. Lisa told him she wanted him walking on his own before he went into the lab to see Amelia, and I somehow knew she meant for him to get used to be able to walk around the base again. He'd been out of commission for a while, and I could see even from a distance that he was disoriented. Even though I'd been able to see the base go through its transformation, to Warren, it all looked strange and a little unfamiliar. I didn't want to make that anymore difficult than I knew it would be already, so like I said, I tried to stay out of the way.

After a couple more weeks, Warren was getting around by himself slowly and he and Lisa were still doing his exercises. I watched from a distance while still sitting with Ava during the day, and even though I didn't intentionally make it obvious that I was there, I didn't apologize for wanting to do it. And it became obvious that Warren didn't really like the fact that I was there all the time.

The first day he got to see Amelia after doing his therapy for a few weeks, Lisa ended up walking him around to the part of the lab where I was sitting with Ava, and despite the fact that I was sitting there minding my own business, Warren felt the need to air all his problems with me when he saw me.

"You've a lot of nerve, you know," he said to me, prompting me to look at him. "It's your fault she's in there," he gestured to Ava.

I bowed my head as I sat in the floor. "I know," I admitted, since I'd already come to terms with the whole thing.

"Then why don't you go back to your people and leave us alone?" he demanded even though it sounded more like a plea.

I lifted my head to look at Ava as she floated in the tank. "Because she _is_ one of my people," I told him. "She has been since she was born, and even more so since I found her in the forest almost a year ago."

"She could've been safe on the base all this time if you hadn't tried to be such a big hero," he argued. "And you know that. So what right do you have to be here?"

Lisa stepped in then, having stood back without interfering. "Warren, that's not fair," she said. "You've been out of it a while. You shouldn't be making that kind of assumption because of what you remember. I told you, things are different now. Ava's been with Jake for almost eleven months. She trusts him. And so do a lot of people here."

"Well, I don't," he pressed. "Amy and I got shot because of him. We were put into cryopods because of him, and Max left us there because he was too busy keeping the base running after what happened. Everyone else might think you're a hero," he said to me, "but I don't. Because you're not a hero."

He turned to leave, and I spoke before he could get very far.

"I know I'm not a hero," I said, glancing at him to see that he'd stopped. "And I know I made a lot of mistakes. Believe me, I'm still living with the consequences. But I swear that if I'd known about Ava, I would've done everything in my power to keep her safe. But no one ever told me about her, or her mother. No one ever showed her to me, not really."

"And do you know why?" he asked softly, his voice sad as he stood with his back to me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I know why," I confirmed. "I know Grace didn't trust me. And she had every reason not to based on what she knew. But she was wrong. And she admitted she was wrong before she died. I know I wasn't here long enough to know everything that was going on here before I messed it all up, and I'm still trying to fix everything I _did_ mess up. But I can't fix this if you won't at least give me a chance. Ava was furious with me when she found out what I did during the war, because she blamed me for what happened to you and her mother. I never meant for any of this to happen, but I want to fix it. Please. Even if you don't think I've earned it, part of you knows I'm right. I'm not some military jackass anymore. This place is my home now."

He bowed his head as he kept his back to me, and he clenched his fists for several seconds before he looked at Lisa. She looked at me, and after a minute, he turned to face me.

"Did you at least let her choose you before you mated with her?" he asked, holding his pleading blue eyes on mine.

"Of course," I insisted. "I wouldn't ever force her to do anything she didn't want to do."

He folded his arms over his chest then, glancing at Lisa and then looking at me again. "Fine. As long as she knew what she was doing. But don't expect us to be friends or anything. At least not for a while."

He didn't let me say anything, turning and leaving without Lisa, and she stepped closer to me, speaking softly.

"He'll come around," she said confidently. "It's just that Amy and Ava were his whole life for six years. And he would defend them until his last breath, something he believed to be the night he got shot in the courtyard. It's just going to take a little time for him to really adjust."

I kept my eyes on the doors he'd disappeared through. "I know exactly how he feels," I whispered.

* * *

A week later, Norm told me they were going to try pulling Amelia out of stasis for the first time, since they'd been able to completely repair Warren's wound with medicine from the village. He also told me that he and Mitch were starting to synthesize blood for Ava for when it was time to deliver the baby. I knew he meant for that to be good news to me, but all it meant was that they were still thinking she either wouldn't live through the delivery or would never wake up afterward. I tried to look at least a little enthusiastic about the news, but I think Norm could tell that I wasn't very happy about this situation at all. But for the time being, I told him I wanted him to focus on Amelia. In the last four weeks, since Warren had come out of stasis and then the amnio tank almost completely healed, I knew the chances of her coming out alive were even better than they'd been before. I was glad at least some good was going to come out of all this.

"You can watch on a monitor while we get her from the pod to the operating theater," Norm said, offering me a pad like he had when Warren had been in surgery. "We're going to be working a little more extensively on her than Warren, but with the blood we transfused from Lisa's avatar, it should go a lot more smoothly than Ava's surgery. You'll know pretty quick if anything goes wrong."

"Is Warren going to be with her during surgery?"

"Not in the surgery, no," Norm informed me. "He wants to see her when we pull her out of the pod, but he's going to come back here while we're operating. Maybe the two of you can have a little more time to talk."

Norm left before I could answer him, but I seriously doubted Warren would even want to talk to me. He was still adjusting, and with Amelia coming out of her pod today, I knew he was going to be a little anxious. I knew I'd been anxious when Ava had been in surgery. I was anxious now with her floating in an amnio tank because she couldn't sustain herself without it.

Watching Norm and David pull Amelia out of stasis was a lot easier than watching them put Ava into her tank, and Warren was there the whole time, making sure she was safe and stable before he allowed them to take her from the lab to the operating theater. I watched them wheel her inside the operating theater, hooking her up to the machines and getting everything ready for her to get her surgery started. Less than five minutes after Amelia's surgery started, Warren stepped back into the Ambient room alone. He looked at me as he closed the airlock, but he didn't say anything. It didn't feel right watching Amelia's surgery, so I put the pad away and sat on the gurney across the room from him while we both waited.

An hour passed silently, and I thought about going back outside with Thomas while I waited since there really wasn't anything I could do. I was just about ready to get up and leave when Warren spoke softly.

"Were you nervous?" he asked me.

I looked at him, seeing that he was still standing there with a solemn look on his face. "Nervous?"

He looked at me. "When Ava was in surgery?"

I sat back down to face him. "I was a nervous wreck," I assured him. "I wanted to be there in the operating theater, but I completely lost it listening to them talk about what they were doing. Lisa had to take me outside. And when Norm told me how little of chance there was that she would wake up, I think I . . ." I stopped, clenching my fists tighter than I had in a while. "I love Ava," I told him, watching the look on his face change slightly. "Because I helped her and trained her, but also because she helped me. I was led to her, and I had to believe it was for a purpose. I still don't know what that purpose is, but I'm not going to leave her until her last breath. I hope that day never comes."

He listened silently for a minute, speaking after I did. "I can still remember the day she was born," he began. "And I was so in love with Amy. I would've done anything for her. Both of them. And Amy was in love with a guy she was never going to meet. It took me forever to show her how I felt for her. But she never really stopped loving him. Not even after you showed up."

"I know," I revealed, and he looked at me again. "Norm showed me all her video logs when we were trying to figure out everything about Ava."

"And?"

"She loves you more than she ever loved my brother," I promised him. "She trusts you. She knows you'll take care of her, and if you'd been able, I know you would've searched the forest for Ava until you found her. And I know now that you were trying to protect Ava by sending her off the base. You love Ava like she was your own. I can see it in your face. I'm sorry this is happening. I can't begin to say how sorry I am."

He looked away, out into the space outside the Ambient room where Ava's tank was still setting. "We could barely keep her contained," he said softly. "She was always so curious and happy. And when you showed up, it took every ounce of control I had to not keep her from asking questions." He paused and looked at me again. "I knew what Quaritch and Selfridge were doing in the forest," he told me. "They asked me to do it a year and a half before you got there. And I said no. I never really told them why, and it wasn't that I didn't want to help. But I had two people here that were more important to me than anything else ever had been. They were my priority. I had to keep them safe, and when I couldn't, it was like someone trying to drive a thousand ice picks through my gut. I failed them," he whispered just barely loud enough for me to hear him.

I realized something then that I'd never known before, and I knew why Quaritch and Selfridge had been in such a hurry to get me into the Clan. And me being the boneheaded idiot I was back then just happened to agree with them because of what I'd been when I showed up. I'd agreed to help them simply because I always had. I'd worked for them for months because I didn't know any better. And I'd betrayed everyone who'd been counting on me to make things right.

But Warren had known their plans. He'd probably even told Grace about it, and they'd asked him to do the same thing they'd asked me. And he'd said 'no.' He'd known nothing good could come from it, and he'd had two people more important to him than some stupid mission Selfridge and Quaritch could have concocted at the time. I'd had no one, no real reason to refuse, no good cause to say 'thanks, but no thanks.' Of course they would've used me as a means to an end. But then I'd actually grown to love the place I was meant to leave.

"If you failed," I said to him, allowing him to look at me before I continued, "then I did too. Because you actually had some thing worth fighting for before they tried to make you do something it was obvious you didn't want to do. I didn't have that. And they both knew that about me. They used me, the same way they tried to use you. At least you had the guts to tell them to shove it up their ass. I didn't even have the ability to do that. But I fell in love with this place," I promised him. "I grew to appreciate everything around me in a way none of the other military assholes around here possibly could. It was just another hellhole to them. I'd been places like this, and none of those places had ever affected me the way this place did. I got to the point that I didn't even want to leave."

"Amy watched your video logs while you were with the Clan," he commented. "She talked about you every now and then."

"Then she probably told you how much of a wreck I was the last month I was with the people. I knew I couldn't stop what was going to happen, but I couldn't let anyone die because of me. And I didn't have the kind of time I would've liked to smooth everything out. I swear that if I'd known what was going on here with you and Amelia and Ava, I would've done everything in my power to get the three of you to safety. Because that clearly wasn't here, especially with the two of you breathing outside like Norm and Lisa. And Ava wasn't any safer here back then. But you're right. I have put her in danger the last year. And I'm really sorry this is happening. I'd give anything to change it."

He sighed softly, opening his mouth to speak as the airlock opened to allow Norm and David back into the Ambient room. Warren stood up, and I sat up straight, watching them pull Amelia's gurney into the room as she laid under a thermal blanket. She looked better than she had in the stasis pod, and I hoped that meant she would get better.

"It went okay?" Warren asked, taking Amelia's hand in his as he hovered over her.

"Better than we expected," Norm assured him.

"And the baby?" Warren pleaded.

"The membrane is intact," David revealed, using a scanner to gauge all her vitals. "Everything should be okay."

"We'll do a more extensive exam when she's ready to come out of recovery," Norm continued, "and we'll be getting the empty tank ready for her healing time."

"How long will it be?" Warren asked softly, squeezing her hand gently.

"She'll be in here a few more hours, and we'll see after that, okay?"

Warren nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

Norm looked at me as he stood in front of Warren, and when I realized what he was asking me, I nodded, assuring him that Warren and I had talked about a few things. I couldn't say if things were better now, but it was better than it had been a week earlier.

The few hours that passed went by even faster than Amelia's surgery even though I didn't talk anymore and neither did Warren. Norm continued to run diagnostics on Amelia while she was still under anesthetic, and David brought in equipment to scan her and the baby growing inside her. I was able to figure out that she wouldn't have to spend nearly as much time in the amnio tank as Ava even though she would still have to be there at least a couple of weeks like Warren had. I knew that meant she would probably be able to see Ava while we were all waiting for her body to heal enough for the baby to be born.

Warren made sure he was standing there above Amelia when she started to wake up, and I moved around enough to see her without her seeing me. She smiled as soon as she saw him, squeezing his hand and reaching for his face.

"I know you," she whispered.

He laughed a little, and Norm spoke to her softly.

"Amelia, I'm Norm. Can you tell me how you're feeling?"

"I feel tired," she said quietly. "How long have I been out?"

"Tell me the last thing you remember," Norm requested.

She was quiet a few seconds, speaking a little uncertainly. "A guard saw me. I was standing outside trying to keep him from seeing Ava. She was up in her tree. I knew he was going to shoot her, and I stepped between them just before his gun went off. I saw Warren, but my stomach was hurting. Ava was behind me, but then she was gone. Where is she?"

"Don't worry about her right now," Warren whispered to her. "She's safe. We're all looking after her."

Norm sighed softly, glancing at me before he spoke to her. "This isn't going to make any sense, but I need you to listen to me, okay?"

"Okay," she nodded.

"You were shot that night, and you would've died if Max hadn't found you in the courtyard. He brought you in here, and he did everything he could with what he had to save you. But it wasn't enough. So Max decided to put you into a stasis pod until they had enough supplies to finish your surgery. But things on the base were crazy, and it was a while before we had everything we needed to finish what he started."

"How long has it been?" she whispered.

Norm looked at Warren, and he took over.

"Amy, it's been able over ten years since that night. I got shot that night too, and they had to put both of us under. I've only been out about a month. Believe me, I didn't want to listen to anything they were saying, but it's true."

"And Ava? Is she . . . Was she . . ."

"I told you, she's safe. But you need a little more time to heal, so they're going to put you inside one of the amnio tanks so you can get better like I did. I'm not leaving you anymore, Amy. I swear."

He glanced over his shoulder at me, but neither of us said anything. There really wasn't anything to say, especially with the circumstances being what they were. I stood up slowly then, moving to the airlock and leaving the Ambient room to wait outside while they all finished with Amelia. I knew it wasn't fair for me to feel jealous, but I did. Warren was going to be able to hold Amelia again. He was going to be able to watch her grow with his child inside her, and he was going to be with her when that child was born. I still had to wait on Norm and Max to decide when the baby inside Ava would be ready to born. It wouldn't be up to Ava or me or even fate. It wasn't fair.

Thomas was off playing with Josh and Elizabeth, and Rey'sik was helping Letam and Nìmun with new bows and arrows to take back to the village. I looked around for Eyreal, but I figured she was off somewhere trying to avoid me. I sat on the front steps of the long-house by myself for almost another hour before the airlock opened again. I looked up to see Mitch, Max and Warren coming out with a ten-foot long stretcher, and the closer they got to me, the more I realized what they were carrying. I hadn't even thought about when they would be taking Warren's avatar out of stasis, but I figured with Warren and Amelia now out of stasis, the avatar was going to be next.

It took them several minutes to make it to the long house, and while Mitch and Max carried the avatar inside to lay him over one of the beds, Warren stopped in front of me.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

At first, I thought he was playing a joke on me. I looked at him suspiciously, but he remained serious. "Yeah," I said after a minute. "I'm fine."

"That must have been hard for you," he said. "Watching me with Amy."

"I'm okay," I assured him.

He nodded. "Okay."

He walked passed me inside the long-house, and I stood up immediately, walking off to find something to do even if it killed me.

* * *

If it was weird having Lisa, Helen and Mitch out in the courtyard in their avatars, it got even weirder when Warren used his for the first time over ten years. I asked Norm if I could be there, and Warren amazingly didn't have any objections, so when it happened, it was definitely a strange experience. At first, he said it was nice, like slipping into an old, comfortable pair of shoes — like Helen had said when I'd seen her the first time after she started using hers again. And when Norm started giving him things to do in the garden and around the courtyard, he commented a lot on how he'd actually enjoyed using his avatar for little things, especially when Ava had been a little girl.

It was a little uncomfortable at first listening to him talk about Ava when she'd been a baby and then a toddler. I knew all of that had happened before I'd even come to the base, and I had no reason to be uncomfortable. But after a few days, it was easier watching him work in the garden or put together a bird house with Josh and Elizabeth. The kids all got used to him being there pretty fast, since he was new and was a little amazed at the idea of little kids being on the base. I think Elizabeth had a little crush on him, which was strange since I'd always thought she had a crush on me at some point.

Warren was only outside a few hours, leaving his avatar in the long-house after he was finished with an activity here or there and then going back inside to sit with Amelia where she was still healing inside the amnio tank next to Ava's tank. I didn't purposefully make my presence known whenever we ended up being in the lab together, but it looked like he'd accepted the fact that I'd been there so long and didn't plan on leaving until Ava could leave. I was trying real hard not to think about what condition I would be taking her back to the village. I hoped it would be alive and in one piece with our baby, but Norm was still saying it didn't look good.

Something I didn't expect was Eyreal wanting to see Warren while he was in the courtyard with the kids, and I suddenly remembered for the second time that she'd known him as a little girl and was probably so curious about him and what he was like now even though he probably wouldn't be much different from how he'd been the last time she'd seen him. He noticed her too after about a week, and I could see he kind of recognized her even though she was ten years older than she had been the last time he'd seen her. He probably hadn't been expecting to ever see her again, and the first time he talked to her, all he could do was marvel at the fact that she'd been with Ava the last year of her life.

"She really picked it up that fast," he said to Eyreal while I sat by and watched them talk. "I can't believe I didn't get to see that."

"She did very well," Eyreal confirmed, glancing at me and then looking out into the courtyard. "She has grown so much since I last see her. But you have not changed at all. This is strange to me."

He chuckled softly, glancing at me too. "Yeah, it's not normal, that's for sure. But you look like you've turned out pretty good. I didn't know you were part of Neytiri's clan."

"I was not always," she said softly. "But they took care of me as though I was one of their own." She looked at him them, reaching for his hand and speaking with more meaning than she ever had with me. "I never forget you," she promised him. "I always hope I see you again, and now that I have, I know everything will be all right. Eywa has given me hope for the future — all our futures." Then she looked at me, and I understood the duel meaning in her words.

She hoped Ava would turn out to be okay, but she also wanted me to see this through to the end, no matter where it led me — even if it led me away from her. It was then that I realized something important about Eyreal, and I knew I was going to have to make a decision about this soon. I knew I couldn't keep riding the fence about all this, and I understood now that by doing just that, I was causing Eyreal the kind of pain I'd never intended. And I didn't like thinking about that with Ava still sort of recovering from what had happened to her.

After Warren laid down his avatar for the day, I noticed how Eyreal hadn't moved from her spot on the front steps of the long-house, and I took a chance to talk to her since I hadn't really had the opportunity in the last few weeks. She looked up when she saw me coming closer to her, but she didn't get up to leave. I took that as a sign that she would at least let me say what I needed to say before she walked away.

"You liked seeing Warren today," I said softly, sitting beside her. "I could tell."

"He looks just as I remember him," she admitted. "I never believed I would see him again. It was a good memory. A welcome one. I am sad that he has missed so much of Ava's life. I know he loves her as his own."

I bowed my head. "I got that impression," I nodded. "It's weird to hear him talk about her. I wish I'd been given a chance to get to know her better then. I know a lot of things would be different if that had happened instead of what did happen. Eyreal," I began. "I need your help."

"What is it you ask of me, _olo'eyktan_?"

I sighed softly. "First, I want you to call me Jake. I think we've moved passed that kind of formality. And I need to know what I'm supposed to do."

"Jake," she amended. "How am I to assist you with this kind of problem? It is not my place to do so." She paused, speaking again more gently. "I know you do not know what you're supposed to do given our current situation."

I inhaled deeply, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "I can't stay," I admitted. "But I don't want to leave. I mean, I know everything's still okay in the village. I think Mo'at is actually doing a better job than I did while I was adjusting to doing it without Neytiri. Taw'biht calls on a regular basis, so I know he's handling it as best as he can. But that's my job they're doing, and I know I'll have to go back eventually. How am I supposed to leave Ava here?"

Eyreal reached for my face, making me look at her. "I know you want me to help you," she said softly. "And I want to help you. But you are the only one who can decide what you must do now. You have decide whether it is more important for you to be here with your mate or in the village with the People. The Omaticaya have survived a long time, and we will continue to do so. You are a part of the Omaticaya, as I am. And you will survive no matter what happens to you, as I have. I have seen this. I know it to be true. You know how long Ava will be here. You know the village is safe. There has not been an attack the whole time we have been here. The people in the village will be able to survive without you, even if it will not be easy. You must decide if you will do this for yourself or everyone else. I can not help you do this."

She leaned closer and laid her forehead against mine. "You will make right decision," she assured me. "It will make itself clear when the time is right."

I wanted to believe her even if I didn't really feel like I'd made many good decisions recently. Honestly, I didn't really feel qualified for the position I'd been holding for the last eleven years. Suddenly, I felt horribly inadequate, and having her praise me felt like I was betraying all the trust she had in me. It felt like I was betraying the trust everyone had in me — especially Norm and Lisa, but mostly Ava.

* * *

When Amelia came out of the amnio tank, I was surprised when Warren asked me to be there so she could see me. I didn't really feel like it was my place to sit with her, but he said she would want to see me even after everything I would've done from her perspective. Norm said it would be okay too, and I finally decided that if Norm thought it was a good idea, then there couldn't be too much wrong with the idea.

It took a few hours for her to recover from being inside the tank for the last couple of weeks, and Warren and Norm were there when she opened her eyes. I watched from a distance, listening to them talk to her and gauge her comprehension. She still remembered talking to them before going into the tank, and she asked about Ava again. This time, Warren told her the truth, prompting me to move closer to where she was laying while he spoke.

"This isn't going to be easy for me to tell you," he said gently. "And I'd give anything to not have to say this, because I didn't like hearing it either. But after I sent Ava off the base that night we were shot, and after we were placed in the stasis pods, she got lost in the forest. I don't know how she survived, but she did. I guess we taught her well on how to do that. She didn't make it to the village until about a year ago, when Jake found her alone in the forest," he glanced at me, and I bowed my head then, feeling Amelia's eyes on me. "He took her to the village, and he taught her all kinds of things we couldn't have even if we wanted to. And he took care of her. But something no one expected happened, and Ava got hurt. She's not doing very good, but Norm is looking after her. So is Max. I knew you'd be worried about her, and I wanted you to know the truth."

Amelia was quiet for a minute or two, speaking softly. "Help me sit up," she requested, and Warren squeezed her hand, pulling her to a sitting position, and she looked at me again. But she didn't say anything to me, moving forward and wrapping her arms around Warren. "The important thing is that we're all alive. And now that we're together, everything's going to be okay. I know that; I can feel it."

I wanted to agree with her, especially since I knew how much of an impossible circumstance that she and Warren were even walking around. I wanted Amelia to be right, and I wanted Ava to be okay. I wanted it so badly that I felt like I could will it to happen.

Since Amelia didn't have an avatar, Norm said she would stay out in the long-house like she'd been doing before she'd been shot. Warren helped her outside, and even though I didn't feel comfortable hanging around her while they were getting her settled in for her physical therapy, Norm said it would probably be better for me to be outside while they were running new diagnostics on Ava's tank. So far, the baby was growing normally even though it was at an increased rate. Norm said it would be pretty soon when we'd know how long to keep Ava in the amnio tank for her to survive the baby's delivery.

I watched Warren help Amelia with her exercises from a few beds away, wondering if it was even fair for me to be there. I knew they needed to be alone, and I knew I was still a little jealous of the fact that they got to be alone. But I stayed nearby. I'm not sure why I felt like I needed to, but I did. So I stayed.

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**Just one more chapter to go until we reach the end of this part of the story. Like I said, I hope you're all enjoying this as much as I am, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you think of it.**

**There were a few words for the definitions, but they're pretty standard words. If you need to know what they mean, just ask me.**

**And I'll be working on the next chapter soon, so until then, have a great night!**

**See you on the flip side!  
**


	31. The Message

**Okay, my lovelies! This is it! Last chapter! I know, it doesn't seem right that this is the last one, but alas, I still have plans for this story, and for now at least, I feel like this part of it is over.**

**So without further ado, Read!  
**

* * *

_**The Message**_

When Amelia was well enough for an ultrasound to be done on her baby to find out how far along she was, I was surprised by her asking me to be there with her and Warren. About a week had gone by since she'd come out of the amnio tank, and even though she was moving around the base pretty well, she was still adjusting. She was sitting with me near Ava's tank every other day, and she'd already commented a couple of times on how much she couldn't believe Ava had grown. She hadn't taken it very well to learn that Ava and I had mated and were expecting a child of our own, but once she understood, she told me that it was okay. She'd remembered that in Na'vi culture, hunters were considered adults after they went through all their rites, regardless of how old or young they were. But she made me promise that no matter what I would take care of Ava and our baby. I was more than happy to make that promise.

Max and Helen set everything up in the ambient room, and after Warren came in from the garden, Amelia and I left Ava in her tank so they could get started. I could tell Amelia was a little nervous. Based on everything Lisa had said about Amelia's pregnancy with Ava, there had been a lot of damage done to her body, and Grace had told her it would've been nearly impossible for her to conceive again. By the time I'd shown up, Lisa said that Amelia had been kind of depressed about it, especially since she and Warren had helped raise Ava together. Amelia hadn't even known she was pregnant before Max had put her into stasis nearly eleven years earlier.

"This is going to be totally painless," Max told Amelia as he smoothed gel over her nearly flat stomach. "As soon as we do this, we'll know exactly how far along you are."

Amelia smiled then as she laid over the gurney, and she grasped onto Warren's hand while he stood beside her. She glanced at me as I stood near her feet, but she didn't say anything, looking at Max and nodding.

"Okay," Max said, taking the wireless wand and laying it over Amelia's stomach. He smiled almost immediately. "Heart beat is strong," he said, pressing a button on the ultrasound and allowing the sound of the baby's heart to fill the room. It sounded a little distorted, but since she probably wasn't that far along, I figured that was normal. "Looks to be a little more than three months along," he reported, still smiling and laughing softly.

"How long will it be until we know what the gender is?" Warren asked.

"Probably another three or four months," Max nodded. "This baby will be a lot different from Ava. For one thing, he won't be as big. And you probably won't carry him nearly as long. But there'll be some differences from a normal human pregnancy."

"Like what?" Amelia asked.

"Well, for one thing, this baby will definitely be able to breathe outside," Max said certainly. "With the two of you having been injected with a base to process Pandoran air and water and even food, you both passed all of that onto this baby. And since we injected you with avatar blood before putting you in stasis, it's likely this child will have stronger bones and maybe even thicker blood when he's born. We'll know for sure as he grows."

"Ava's going to have a little brother or sister soon," Amelia laughed softly. "I hope she gets to see them."

I bowed my head then, wishing for the same thing.

Warren took Amelia to lay down in the long-house after Max was finished, and I moved back into the lab where Norm was again running a diagnostic on Ava's tank. He smiled when he saw me, but his smile faded as he went back to the pad in his hands. I sat down next to Ava's tank, watching her as he worked and speaking softly.

"You don't know how long she's going to have to be in here, do you?" I asked him.

Norm was quiet a few seconds, sighing heavily over his pad. "It's not that simple," he said apologetically. "We're monitoring a wide variety of her vitals. We're keeping an eye on her wound, her heart rate, even her metabolism, and we're still adjusting the hormones and sedative and oxygen and everything else to make sure we're giving her enough but not too much. She's alive, and we're going to do everything in our power to keep her and the baby that way."

He paused over the pad, pressing buttons and then adjusting the controls on Ava's tank, and I couldn't keep myself from reading into what he was saying.

"But I should still prepare myself to lose her or the baby or both," I added.

He turned to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "I think you should go spend time with Thomas," he said, and I lifted my head to look at him. "And I think you should talk to Eyreal about going back to the village. You need to talk to Mo'at, and we need you to have a clear head when we start making harder decisions about what to do next. Because I don't want you to decide this too quickly or without thinking it all the way through. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself if you made a decision right now and discovered it was the wrong one."

I listened to him carefully, realizing that he was telling me something important but also know that it would involve me having to leave the base, even if it was for a little while. I didn't want to leave Ava, but he was right. I needed to know what to do, and I wasn't going to find that out here away from the village. More specifically, the one place where I knew I could find answers and guidance.

"You'll all look after her while I'm gone," I pleaded with him.

"Of course we will," he promised.

I didn't say anything, returning my attention to Ava.

Even though it was only mid-morning, I knew if I left before noon, I'd get to the mountains before dark, and there were a few things I needed to do before I could leave and know that everything would be okay while I was gone. For one, I had to make sure Rey'sik was okay with staying on the base while I left.

"_Olo'eyktan_ must consult with Great Mother," he said while standing in front of the long-house. "I understand what you must do. Eywa is sure to have answers for you. I will do anything you ask of me while you are away."

"Then you'll help Max if he asks, and you'll be here for Thomas when he needs you," I told him. I'd already talked to Thomas by now, and even though he wanted to go with me, I'd explained to him that I'd be back before he could miss me. And this was something I needed to do alone.

"I will do this for you, _olo'eyktan_," he agreed, bowing his head.

I laid my hand over his shoulder, and he looked at me. "And call me Jake. Please."

He smiled a little and bowed his head again. "Jake," he amended.

It wasn't so easy trying to convince Eyreal to stay behind on the base. She all but refused to stay there without me, and she insisted that I would need her if I was going to consult Eywa on the current situation. I tried to tell her that I needed to do all of this on my own, but she argued that if I had another dream or even a vision I would need her to interpret whatever I saw. After the trouble I'd had with all my other dreams, I had to admit, having someone else there to help me if I needed it did sound like more of a good thing than a bad thing, and I already felt like I was running out of time where Ava was concerned. And she was just as invested in Ava's survival as I was. So in the end, I agreed that she would go with me.

"As long as you let me at least do most of this myself," I stipulated as I stood inside one of the shower stalls pulling on a new loincloth and trying to figure out how to put my new knife on. I'd been wearing a shirt and pants for the last several weeks, and it was weird to be wearing my clan markings again.

"I would never interfere with you when you are speaking to Eywa," she argued. I knew she was packing everything she'd collected, but I'd told her to leave a few things here for when we came back. And I fully intended to come back. I wasn't relocating to the base in any kind of permanent way, but there was no way I was leaving Ava here without me for longer than absolutely necessary.

I stepped out into the long-house still carrying my clothes, and she turned to face me, grinning slightly.

"Now you look like _olo'eyktan_," she teased, and I blushed, laying the clothes in my hammock and still holding the collar Nìmun and Rey'sik had made for me. Eyreal stepped forward, taking the collar and then extending her hands to secure it around my neck. The grin on her face faded slightly, and so did mine, and for several seconds, we stood there quietly.

She lowered her hands to my chest, and I was suddenly thinking about Neytiri the night before the war. So many things had happened up to that point, and even though our future had been uncertain at that time, I'd known for sure that I was going to love her for the rest of my life. And now she was gone.

Eyreal bowed her head then, but she didn't move, and I felt another piece of the puzzle fall into place as I lifted my hand to her face to make her look at me. I'd loved Neytiri and I'd lost her. Now I knew I loved Ava, and I was on the brink of losing her. And even though I remembered everything Eyreal had said about her path, I'd grown to care for her as more than a friend, and I couldn't consciously let her think there could be anything between us, even when it was decided or discovered that Ava wouldn't survive at all. Eyreal leaned up close to me, and even though I didn't want something like this to happen now, I couldn't move.

Her breath mingled with mine less than a second before my lips almost touched hers when Norm's voice startled us both.

"Hey, you guys ready to go?" he called, and I jumped, stepping away from Eyreal to see Norm coming into the long-house in his gear to fly the Samson to the clearing near _Ayvitraya Ramunong_ where I would be staying for a few days.

The grin on his face faded when he saw us, and I tried to explain.

"She was just — I was changing, and she — I needed help with my collar, and we — " I stopped, clenching my fists and glancing at Eyreal as she stepped around me to leave the long-house with her small pouch.

I sighed angrily, watching Norm step closer to me.

"Jake," he said, "are you okay?"

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling confused and overwhelmed, and I realized I wasn't okay. I felt the heaviest weight on my shoulders, and I knew it was going to crush me if I didn't do something soon. It was just wrong that I had no idea what I was supposed to do, and there were so many people who were depending on me.

I sat on one of the empty beds, leaning over and taking my face in my hands. "I can't do this anymore," I whispered, prompting him to step closer to me and lay his hand on my shoulder.

"Everything's going to be okay," he promised me.

"But nobody knows that for sure," I argued. "You can't even tell me if Ava's going to be able to come out of the amnio tank alive. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I can't stay here indefinitely, but I don't want to leave Ava here. I'm so confused. And then there's all this between me and Eyreal. What am I supposed to do, Norm?"

He didn't say anything for a minute, sitting up on the bed next to me and clasping his hands together. "What do you want to do?" he asked me.

I didn't hesitate. "I want to stay here with Ava until she's okay. Until I know I can take her back to the village with our baby. But I can't do that. And I don't like how that feels."

"Do you think consulting with Mo'at or Eywa will help you make that decision?" he asked, and I knew he was serious.

"I don't know," I admitted. "But She helped me before, and I have to believe she was showing me everything she did for a reason. And maybe if I do it head on then maybe it'll help in the long run. So I have to do this."

"Well, I'll be here for you if you need me," he assured me. I looked at him again. "And I'm sorry this has been so hard on you. I never wanted any of this happen, and I wish there was more I could do. And I — I'm sorry about keeping Warren and Amelia from you. I swear I would've told you if I'd known how serious it was for you. But Max said it was safer. And I wanted you to focus on Ava. I guess if I'd told you none of this would be happening."

"You couldn't have known I was going to be so invested in their safety," I informed him. "I didn't even know how much it meant to me until I actually saw them. And you _were_ trying to protect me. But Norm," I said, prompting him to look at me. "If you keep anything from me again, anything at all, you and me are going to have a serious talk about trust. If you and Max had just told me all of this when we first found Ava, we could've prevented all of this from happening. I still could've trained her, but she would've been here where it was safe. And I know that means I might not have been given the chance to love her the way I do now, but at least she would've been safe."

He bowed his head then, and it looked like he finally understood why I'd been so upset with him. And it looked like he was genuinely sorry for keeping all of it a secret even if he'd been meaning to protect me from whatever he thought I couldn't handle. But I also understood why he'd kept it from me. Because I had lost it, and I was still recovering from all of it.

I stood up then, and he followed me. I opened my mouth to talk only to be stopped yet again by Lisa.

"Alex is ready to go," she told us, seeing us there and smiling nervously before she slowly moved closer to where we were.

"What's going on out here?" she asked.

"We're just talking," Norm said, glancing up at me. "We'll be there in just a minute."

She looked at me, grinning and then turning to leave.

I looked at Norm, seeing a small grin on his face and finally deciding it was time for us to talk about this. "Norm," I said, and he looked at me. His grin faded, and I laughed softly.

"Let's go, Romeo," I prodded, nudging him along so we could get to the Samson before it was time to eat.

Alex was waiting by the Samson on the South Lawn with Lisa and Eyreal, and he nodded to me as we got closer before climbing into the cockpit to get the rotors turned on so we could go. He'd finally warmed up to me, and I knew I was going to be able to count on him when the time came.

"I packed an extra comm unit in case something happens," Lisa said, glancing at Norm as he climbed onto the Samson, and she smiled at me before stepping away from the chopper as the rotors started up.

I nodded to her, turning to Eyreal and helping her into the hull of the Samson so Norm could strap her in, and I followed them, glancing back at Lisa and smiling back. She waved, and I did too, holding onto the side rail as Alex lifted off to ground to get on our way. I looked at Norm, and he blushed, bowing his head again. I definitely needed to talk to him about this.

We were in the air within minutes, moving away from the base and up into the mountains before I had a chance to really look around me, and for the first time in weeks, I was overwhelmed by a gut feeling I hadn't experienced since Neytiri had died. I kept telling myself that we would be back on the base in a few days, but it didn't help. In fact, the further away from the base we got, the worse I felt, like someone was pushing down on my shoulders and trying to shove me into the ground several hundred feet below the Samson I was currently sitting inside.

Norm noticed after a little while, trying to reassure me with a smile even though I think he realized it wasn't going to work at this point. I think he finally understood what I was going through with everything that had happened, and it sort of made me feel a little better to know that he didn't really blame me for anything that had happened. I felt a little better that he and I had gotten past everything we'd both done, and right now, all I wanted was a little guidance to figure out what I was supposed to do that would help keep Ava alive while we also kept the village safe. If I could figure that out now, then I hoped it would make everything make sense again.

I spotted the stone arches protecting the Tree of Souls before we were within a few kilometers, and I became anxious to get on the ground. I could see Eyreal was anxious too, but I knew it was for a completely different reason. I still didn't know what to do about what I was feelings for her. She was a friend, but after spending so many months with her so closely, I realized she really was more than a friend. The way she looked at me and the way she spoke to me made it seem like she'd felt that way a long time ago but knew I'd already chosen my path. That was what she meant when she said I had to see it through to the end, no matter where that led me.

Alex set the Samson down in as safe a spot as he could find, and while he powered down the chopper, I helped Eyreal from her harness so we could start our walk to the basin of our destination. The last time I'd been here, I'd brought Ava here to show Eywa to her, and Eyreal had followed us. Now I knew why she'd done that, now that I knew her connection to Ava. It felt strange to be here just the two of us, but I tried not to show it as we made a path over the top of the entrance and then walked slowly toward the tree as it set undisturbed. I glanced behind me to see Norm following me slowly, and I stepped back to be beside him, allowing Eyreal to go ahead of us.

"Norm," I said again, and he looked up at me. "I want to talk to you about something."

"About what?" he asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

"Um, about Lisa," I prompted.

His face turned pale white, and I grinned.

"Oh," he said. "Right. Well, uh, there really isn't anything to say. I guess."

"Um, I think there is something to say," I assured him. "And I'm pretty sure Lisa would agree with me. I think you know what I'm talking about."

He shut his eyes then, still walking but trying to speed up even as he spoke. "Listen, Jake, I appreciate that you might be a little interested in my . . . friendship with Lisa, but really, there's nothing to talk about."

I laid my hand over his shoulder, stopping him, and he sighed heavily, balling his fists tightly. "I'm not blind, Norm," I informed him. "And I've talked to Lisa. Is there something wrong with the two of you being together? I mean, we are on a tropical paradise of sorts, and it's not like either of you are too young or anything," I teased him.

He stared at the ground for a few minutes, and I waited, kneeling in front of him so he wouldn't be able to avoid looking at me. He huffed, looking around him and then again looking at me. "It's weird, okay? I didn't really know her until a couple of years ago, and she was so entrenched in the lab that she hardly ever came out. It wasn't until this — this thing with Ava that she started to become more involved, and then I found out that she could breathe outside, and it just changed. And she's ten years older than me. I don't know what to say to her."

I grinned. "Uh, I think that right there might be a good place to start," I suggested. "I know you like her. I see the way you look at her. And I know she likes you, but she's worried about being so much older than you. But I guarantee you she doesn't care about you being _so much_ younger than her. As a matter of fact, I think she kind of likes it."

He blushed then. "That's not funny, okay? The last ten years haven't been easy on her. She thought up until a few months ago that two of her best friends were dead and that it was our fault they died. She was furious when I told her, and she blamed us for losing them. The last few months have been hard for her realizing that they were here the whole time less than two or three hundred feet away from her on a daily basis. It's just weird right now, okay?"

"But you should talk to her," I insisted. "I'd talk to her if it was me."

He scoffed. "Of course you would. Jake, let's just focus for right now. Remember what you're here to do. You know this is going to take a little while, and you're the one who wanted to be here as little as possible. Now, come on. Enough about me. We're here about you."

I grinned again, glancing around and rising slowly to make my way toward the tree where Eyreal was currently sitting under the pure white tendrils wafting in the air gently. I made it to where she was sitting, glancing at her and then sitting beside her as she took her queue and connected it to a tendril nearby. I followed her lead, glancing around and finding Norm just as my own queue made contact with the tree, and suddenly, I saw something I hadn't seen in a very long time. Neytiri.

I looked at Eyreal to see if she could see what I was seeing, but she was gone. I looked behind me, but Norm wasn't there anymore. And then I realized that it was much darker than it had been when we arrived. I started to get up, reaching to disconnect from the tree only to realize that I wasn't connected to it at all, and when I felt a four-fingered hand on my shoulder, I looked behind me to see Neytiri there again with a smile on her face the way she'd looked the day we'd found out she was having a baby. But this didn't make any sense. How was she here now?

She lifted her hand to my face, and suddenly, it was like the last year hadn't happened. She wasn't dead, and I wasn't wallowing in guilt about all the things that had been hidden from me. I stepped closer to her, bowing my head until it touched hers, and I knew I could spend forever standing here. I never wanted to leave, and it didn't matter what happened anywhere else. All I cared about was standing in my arms at that moment.

"_Jake,"_ she whispered, her voice soft and resonant in a way it never had been. _"You must not lose your way now. You must understand why this has happened, and I must show you."_

She dissipated from my arms then, and I opened my eyes seeing the forest around me and knowing exactly where I was as gunfire and rotors polluted the air nearby. I stepped through a wall of foliage to find myself on the outskirts of the base as Quartich lifted off the tarmac to leave for his confrontation with me. A twig snapping under light pressure caught my ears, and I looked behind me to see a flash of color moving away from where I was standing. I turned away from the base, following the sound and moving over several dozen feet of terrain before the movement stopped. It took me a few minutes, but when I found the source of the noise, I was more surprised than ever to discover the one thing I should've been looking for that day.

There in the shadows of the plants around her was Ava. She was so small, still wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but she was scared and scraped up from running through the forest. It didn't look like she'd gotten very far, but then I remembered the time table, and I knew her mother and Warren had been shot only a couple of days before this moment when she was wandering through the forest alone. She looked exactly the way I remembered her even though I'd barely interacted with her for a few minutes. And then a strange thing happened as she lifted her eyes to mine like she could see me there.

I knelt in front of her without thinking, and she ran to me instantly, throwing her arms around me and crying softly. I comforted her reflexively, wondering how this was possible and thinking of what might be going through her mind as she held onto me like I was the only thing she needed or wanted.

"_I knew I could find you,"_ she exclaimed even as her voice shook.

"_I'm here,"_ I promised. _"I'm not going anywhere. I swear."_

I stood up with her in my arms easily, holding her against me and looking around as the forest around us changed again.

Suddenly, I was inside the lab, still holding Ava in my arms, but now standing over Amelia's gurney when she'd been coming out of surgery and before they'd put her inside the amnio tank. But I recognized her from somewhere else. My dream the night Ava and I had chosen each other as mates. Grace.

"_Took you long enough to get here,"_ I heard and turned to see Grace there with . . . me. But it wasn't me. It was . . .

"_Tommy?"_

He smiled, and Grace glanced at him before she moved closer to me. I looked at Ava, noticing the stripes gone from her face as a pair of clear blue eyes stared back at me. She was no longer the size she'd been before, but now that size of a normal six-year-old human child. She fit in my arms almost perfectly, and I looked at Grace.

"_What is this? Am I dreaming?"_

Grace smirked, stepping up to Amelia's side and touching her forehead. Within seconds, Amelia opened her eyes, gazing up at Grace and then looking at me. _"Honestly, Marine, think about it for two whole seconds, and you might actually understand."_

I glanced at Tommy, and then I looked at Ava, noticing exactly how much she looked like her mother.

"_It always took you a little while to see the bigger picture, Jake,"_ Tommy said as he made it to my side. _"Seriously, bro, think about it. If wasn't going to be me, who else could it have been?"_

I listened to what he was saying and thought for a second he was joking. It wasn't possible. He'd only been killed a week before leaving to go to Pandora. I wasn't even supposed to go.

"_And yet, you got here in one piece,"_ Grace teased, helping Amelia sit up and then stepping around the gurney to be in front of me again. _"I underestimated you from the moment I laid eyes on you, and it took me getting a bullet to the gut to admit I was wrong about you. But I was wrong."_

She paused, glancing at Amelia again and then folding her arms over her chest the way she did when she didn't want to admit when she'd made a mistake.

"_And?"_ I pressed.

She sighed, annoyed as she settled her hands over her hips. _"I was supposed to show Ava to you when you got here. But the moment I laid eyes on you, I was too afraid to take the risk of her being exposed. I cared about her too much to put her in danger. And in doing so, I caused her safety to be compromised. Maybe not the day you showed up, but I did it. And I'll always wish I could've gone back and done things differently. But the truth is I can't. And I'll regret it forever. It's probably the only thing I'll ever regret."_

I bowed my head again, remembering all the things that had happened when I'd been on the base, when I'd gotten lost in the forest, and when I'd given in to the way being here had made me feel. I'd only wanted to protect people who couldn't protect themselves — not against what was coming and not in enough time to do it without anymore bloodshed. But if what Grace was saying was true, then I'd been meant to do something altogether different from what I'd ended up doing.

"_You were supposed to take my place, Jake,"_ Tommy told me. _"And part of my job here was to look after Ava and Amelia. They were supposed to be my responsibility. But something went wrong, and my burden was passed on to you. And ironic as that is, no one but you could have done what you did. You saved this place. You gave it a chance, and it did exactly what it was meant to."_

I looked at Ava again, and she laid her hand over my cheek. The inside of the lab faded, drifting away like smoke, and it was replaced by darkness and then the soft light of the Tree of Voices where Ava and I had mated for the first time. I opened my eyes, seeing her in front of me the way she'd been that night. She'd been so happy, so nervous. And in her eyes I could see a small hint of recognition of who I'd been the first day we'd met. I knew I loved her in that moment, and when I'd found her again, I'd barely recognized her.

"_I knew you'd find me,"_ she whispered, touching my lips with her fingertips. _"Only you could have. I'll always love you for that."_

She wrapped her arms around me again, kissing me the way she had that night and allowing me to take her down to the ground. She was my whole world, and I couldn't live in a world where she didn't exist.

"_Jake,"_ Grace said, now standing above me the way she had my first day in the link to my avatar. _"We've been trying to tell you this for a long time, and I know we've been kind of cryptic, but honestly, kid, think about it. I called your brother about this. I was going to make this part of his responsibility once he got here. But he never came. And within three months of you getting here, I was gone, and Ava was out there looking for you. Why do you think I kept asking Selfridge for more time? It's because we were trying to get Ava off the base. And when you got things settled with the Omaticaya, we were going to take her to them. But it's too late now. You were always supposed to be a part of Ava's life. And I'm partially to blame for that message getting lost. I'm sorry, Jake."_

The light behind her blinded me then, and within the whiteness, the darkness began to overpower my sight until I was in total blackness. I felt the ground beneath me, and I felt the air around me before I tentatively opened my eyes. The tendrils of the Tree of Souls was still above me, but it was dark. I was laying on the twisted roots of the tree, and from what I could sense, I was alone.

I remembered Grace's words, and suddenly all of it made sense. And now that I knew so much more than I had my first day on the base, I realized I probably should've asked about Tommy. I should've gone after Warren when he came to get Ava after she wandered into the base that day. I should've done a lot of things, but now that it was all up to me, I could only really think of one thing I was still supposed to do.

It was morning when Norm came back down into the basin with Alex, and by then, Eyreal had come back with breakfast. I hadn't felt this calm in ten years, almost eleven, and when Norm got to where I was sitting, I faced him with a clearer head than I'd had since Ava had gotten to the base.

"Norm," I said calmly, and he stepped in front of me. "When it's time, I want you to do everything you can to save Ava and our baby. At this point, I don't think I could live without either of them, but if it comes down to her or the baby, don't let anything happen to the baby. Please."

He glanced at Alex and then Eyreal, and even though he'd been preaching it to me for a long time, I think he finally understood what I was saying. I wasn't willing to admit that it was for the best, but I was putting Ava's life in someone else's hands now. And I was trusting him to save our baby because I knew he could do it. If it was supposed to be, then I knew Ava would be okay. But I knew she wouldn't want anything to happen to the baby inside her. And I had to think about her before myself. Norm looked at me, bowing his head and nodding silently. I knew it was the best he could do, and for now, that was enough for me.

Alex's communicator came to life then, and he moved away from us so he wouldn't disturb us. Eyreal sat at my side, having heard everything I'd said and understanding what it would ultimately mean. I knew what I was supposed to do now, and she knew it wasn't up to me or Norm if Ava survived. It was up to Ava now.

"Norm," Alex called. "Max is calling. He says they've received a message from the satellite."

"A message?" Norm repeated. "What kind?"

Alex looked at me, and then Norm looked at me. "We should get back," he said. "After being out here for two days, we've been gone long enough."

I stood up then, stumbling like I hadn't walked in a long time, and Eyreal caught me in her arms. "Two days," I exclaimed. "What the hell?"

"You were unconscious as soon as you connected to Tree," Eyreal told me. "But I fed you broth and water. Eywa had much to tell you. And I can see you have come to a resolution. I know everything will work itself out now."

I chose not to respond, allowing her to walk me along the ground behind Norm and Alex toward the top of the basin. I discovered the remnants of a campfire and a make-shift tent next to the Samson, and Norm and Alex almost immediately began packing everything up to leave. Eyreal helped me into the hull, and I strapped in while she followed and pulled on the harness next to mine. Alex climbed into the cockpit, and Norm took down their tent while the rotors started up.

Within minutes, we were in the air, and I watched the ground shrink away until we were flying in the direction of the base. Norm pointed to his comm, and I found one of the mikes to pull it over my head while he spoke to me.

"As soon as we get back, you get to the long-house and get some real food. I'll talk to Max and we'll find out what this message is. Then I'll come get you, okay?"

I nodded without saying anything, feeling my limbs weak and my stomach churning steadily. I closed my eyes then, praying silently and hoping I was doing the right thing.

The base looked like I'd never left, and Alex set the Samson down on the South Lawn so Norm, Eyreal and I could get out before he lifted off to put her back on the tarmac. I walked slowly toward the long-house, and Norm hurried off to the airlock to find Max, glancing over his shoulder at me and pointing to the long-house as a reminder that he wanted me to get a little rest — like being unconscious for two days wasn't relaxing enough. It looked like Eyreal agreed with him, and she guided me inside to the hammock where my clothes were still laying before giving me this look that told me not to get up until she came back.

It was easy to oblige. Despite having been out of it, I had to admit I was kind of exhausted. I knew I hadn't been sleeping while I'd been laying under the Tree. I'd been shown something meant to help me make a decision that would prove to be more important than the one I'd made before the war. No matter what happened to Ava now, I knew I was going to be dealing with the consequences of this decision for the rest of my life. And I didn't want to screw it up.

Eyreal came back with Thomas and food, and as soon as he saw me, he smiled, running to me and climbing into the hammock with me. I held him closer to me than I ever had, wanting desperately to rewind time and go back to the night before we'd left the base. But I couldn't do that, and I had to start moving forward. He laid in the hammock with me like he was a little boy all over again and I was his _sempu_.

"You're back!" he exclaimed.

"I'm back," I agreed. "And I'm not leaving for a little while."

Eyreal presented me with food wraps, and as if on cue, my stomach growled loudly, indicating that I was definitely hungry. She grinned as I took the food, settling into one of the other hammocks to watch me while I ate, and we all waited there for Norm quietly.

An hour passed silently, and I almost fell asleep laying there with Thomas. But I was so determined to hear what Norm had found out that I forced myself to stay awake — at least until I knew what was going on. When he finally came out of the airlock with Max, I got out of the hammock with Thomas, moving out on the front steps to sit down as they got to us. They looked nervous, and Norm had a dreadful, if not expectant look on his face.

"Norm," I said. "What's going on? And don't leave anything out on my part."

He looked at Max, and then Max looked at me.

"Mitch was in Ops this morning when a message came through the satellite link," Max began. "Which normally wouldn't have been a big deal since we've been receiving small messages and pointless ads from the satellite for the last few years. Commercials, tv shows, movies. Things like that. But this morning, we received a transmission from deep space, not Earth. It was from an ISV traveling through space toward us, and when Mitch checked the locator, he saw that it was the ship we've been waiting on."

"So what was the message?" I asked.

Max looked at Norm again, and then Norm looked at me, revealing a pad behind his back that he handed to me with a video feed paused on it. I glanced at him, wondering if this was supposed to be some sort of reverse psychology thing where I wasn't supposed to want to know what this was. When he nodded for me to watch it, I inhaled deeply and pushed the 'play' button on the pad.

Instantly, I saw the face of a man in his late-sixties in a military jumpsuit with five stars on his shoulder. He looked out into the video link like he was looking at me, and he checked the feed before he began to speak.

"My name is General William Watson, and I'm sending this message from the ISV Ambassador. We are currently three years out your time, and if my calculations are correct, you've already started running out of supplies. Please be advised that while we are not carrying weapons beyond the means to defend ourselves, we are bringing with us a detail of security guards and weapons' specialists. We are also bringing a larger number of scientists, miners and builders. I understand the circumstances of your last encounter with a military presence, and I want to assure you that we mean no harm or disrespect. My mission is simply to bring the base back up to operation but within the restrictions I'm sure you'll have upon our arrival. Know also that no attempt you make to prevent our descent will be successful. We've made a few modifications to our landing craft, and they're much more impenetrable than you'll remember. I'm under instructions to make peace with you, and I've been told you're a reasonable man. I believe that very much, no matter what body you're residing in at the moment. I look forward to meeting you, Jake Sully. I also have a member on my elite team you'll be very interested in meeting. General Watson, signing off."

The screen went black, and it was over, but I sat there for several minutes unable to say anything.

"Norm," I said after my long silence.

"Jake."

"Why do I feel like I know this guy?"

"It's Warren's father, Jake," Max said. "He's commanding the ISV on its way here now."

I bowed my head then, unwilling to believe what I already knew was true. "I always knew they would be back. But is this guy seriously thinking he can just come down here like nothing happened? Like we won't be ready for him when he gets here?"

"As a matter of fact," Norm said, "Warren said he would absolutely expect it. But more than that, Warren said his father would more than likely be coming for him too. It's been over twenty years since they saw each other. He wasn't . . . happy about seeing his father's face again."

"So what do we do?" I asked, giving Norm the pad. "Ava's still in the amnio tank."

"We have three years, Jake," Max said. "We've been stockpiling our supplies despite what Mr. General there says. We'll be fine. And don't worry about Ava. Norm, you forgot the other thing."

The sympathetic look on Norm's face changed slightly, and he grinned, taking the pad and switching its display before he handed it back to me. Although I'd never seen anything like it in my life, I didn't need to ask what was on the pad when I looked at it. Immediately, I could see arms, legs and a little head. My baby with Ava. Norm must have seen my grin, speaking again.

"There's more," he said, stepping closer and touching the pad to bring up another image that looked completely foreign to me. "These are readings from Ava's tank."

He paused, and I looked at him. "And?"

"Well, it basically says her vitals are improving. It looks like being in the tank and being pregnant are starting to agree with Ava."

"And that means?"

He glanced at Max, grinning more as he looked at me. "It means we might be able to take her out of the tank in another month. Maybe two. If she keeps improving. I'll still do everything I can for her and the baby, but this is good news, Jake. Be happy."

I looked at the pad again, pushing a couple of buttons and pulling up the image of the baby again. "Oh, I am," I said softly, staring and wanting to touch her to make sure she was real. "Thanks, Norm."

"Jake," Max began, "with the shuttle coming, we're going to have a lot of stuff to do around here. Are you going to be here for a little while?"

I was still staring at the pad. "Of course. Why would I go anywhere?"

"It's just that you've been here for three months. Don't you plan on going back to the village?"

At that, I put the pad down, meeting his eyes purposefully. "When Ava is out of the tank and awake, I might start thinking about it. Mo'at is doing a good job for right now, and you said it yourself, there's a lot of stuff to do here. I stayed in the village for most of the last ten years, Max. I think for the time being, my priority needs to be here so we can be ready when this General comes."

"Good," Max nodded. "Because we're going to need all the help we can get."

Thomas leaned closer to me then, gazing at the pad still in my hands. "Is that my little brother?" he asked softly.

I smiled at him. "Or little sister," I added. "Looks kinda strange doesn't it?"

He reached for the pad slowly. "This is a picture of inside Ava, isn't it?"

I nodded. "It is," I confirmed. I handed him to pad. "Here. You keep that. But don't stay in there too long. I'd hate for you to miss all the fun out here."

He grinned widely, rising from the steps and moving inside the long-house with the pad in his hands, his tail swishing behind him happily.

Once he was gone, I turned my attention back to Norm and Max, seeing them still there with expectant looks on their faces. "So," I said. "What else has Warren said about his father? What kind of man is General Watson?"

"Quite decorated, actually," Max stated factually. "I looked him up in the database. You know how Quaritch was about as useful as a scalpel around here? He was pretty much a sledge hammer when I met him."

I nodded. "I remember."

"Well, General Watson is like a high-precision laser compared to Quaritch. He's determined, blunt and very rarely ever wrong based on what the files have on him. And it looks like Warren was the only child he had who defied him."

"Good for Warren," I snorted.

"The point," Norm said, "is that he's even harder to negotiate with than Quaritch when it comes to what he wants. He's going to show up here with a list of things he wants before he even listens to us, and along with him, he'll bring a slew of people who could very well change the function of this base within a week. Whether he says he's not coming here with any kind of malice or not, we have to be prepared to fight him, if not literally, then definitely figuratively."

"So what do we do?" I asked curiously.

"For now," Max said, "we're going to focus on Ava, Amelia and Warren. They're still adjusting to life on the base, and with Ava being in such a precarious state, we'll still need to monitor her very closely. But we're also going to start training more of the science team to get them ready for the shuttle when it comes. The less they get the drop on us, the better."

I nodded, agreeing, all the while feeling the weight on my shoulders increase from the need to sleep.

"Go back into the long-house, Jake," Norm instructed. "We've got things covered for now. You need some real rest."

For once, I didn't argue, stepping back into the long-house where Eyreal was now sleeping and climbing up into my hammock to do the same. I thought silently as I laid there drifting to sleep. There were so many things that still needed resolving, but for now, it felt like everything was in order and wouldn't be disturbed for the time being. I knew it would change when I opened my eyes, but I had time. That much I knew for sure.

_**To be continued . . .**_

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**First, I have to thank everyone who's read and reviewed. You're all awesome, and I want you all to know that you've helped me shape this story more than you know. And also to everyone who's put this story on their alerts and in their favorites. I really appreciate it. You have no idea.**

**Second, there _will_ be a sequel. I've got a little bit of it planned out right now, and I'm hoping to have it started soon. But I make no guarantees as to when it will be posted. Though I have enjoyed writing this story, I need to focus on other stories I have going right now. **

**Third, if you've read up until now and still haven't told me what you think, I can only hope this story has lived up to your expectations and hopes. I know sometimes when I read a story that I only review when I'm totally blown away by the story if not the idea behind the story. So if you haven't done it already, there's no better time than now.**

**And Last, but certainly not least, there will be questions you'll have about certain characters, and I'm here if you want answers. You zig, I zag!**

**Again, thank you all for reading, and I hope to see you again in the future!**

**Catch you on the flip side!  
**


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